User reviews

Wonderful movie.

How about seeing Sir Roger Moore in one of his last roles and Outlander star Sam Heughan (perhaps the new Bond after Craig) in one movie.

I like all kinda movies, as long as they're well executed. And this one is just a fun movie to see.

Check it out when you get the chance.

This is truly a modern fairy tale...and I watch it every Christmas season... The actors are believable and the scenery and locations are stunning.

The added bonus is Sam Heaughan as the Prince...I truly was agog....and it was rather cool to see a former James Bond...acting opposite a very strong front runner for the next James Bond...

It was predictable but nevertheless a fairly good movie. The worse part of the movie was the actor playing Milo. He couldn't have been worse in his over acting and bad casting for the part. Much in the genre of 'A Crown for Christmas '.

Yes this story is absolutely ridiculous. In fact, I thought it went even beyond most of the other stories of this type. But that doesn't mean it isn't fun to watch.

Jules and her niece and nephew have had a heartbreaking struggle in the loss of her sister and their parents. But we get to see the wonder of children living the fairy tale at Christmas. Leilah de Meza is totally cute as the little girl who doesn't care that her grandpa is a duke. She even overlooks his grumpiness and just loves him.

There are some silly but fun scenes as the common folk meet the stiff royalty and sometimes try to loosen them up.

The biggest problem I found was that a 24 year old man was cast to play a "teenager" and older brother to a seven year old whose parents were likely in their early 30's. If they took the time to cast a young child for the little girl, why couldn't they do the same for the son? The actor is so out of place, it ruins the movie. His face doesn't match with his words and actions. Katie McGrath is only four years older that the actor. It seems so fake when she is talking to him as an adult to a child.

Also, some of the mannerisms of the character of Jules Daly do not match. She does not seem to be the kind of person who would put her elbows on the table at a formal dinner in a castle, or grab sandwiches from a tray and run out of a room. These things are an annoyance because it looks like she does them because it calls for her to do it as an actress, not because the character would do these things.

Overall, I found it very hard to stay focused on the movie.

There are slight offerings from cable channels (Ion, Freeform, BET) and then there are deluges (Hallmark, Lifetime) when it comes to Christmas movies. And I've seen EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM (it takes me until March to view them on the DVR). Although I don't have the time to comment on all of them, I certainly have enough experience under my belt to review this pleasant, unassuming entry from 2011. It stars Katie McGrath (Supergirl) and a slight Sam Heughan (before he became rugged and buff for Outlander).

To acknowledge the elephants in the room: -Yes, the American accents of the non-Americans playing Americans do noticeably slip. -Yes, it's a fairy tale and redundant; nothing new here. -Yes, Katie McGrath smiles way too much. -Yes, the brashness of Americans is overplayed to create an unsubtle chasm on cultural differences for the sake of the plot.

However, I found the movie to be quite charming, with flawless chemistry between the two leads. At least 90% of the Christmas movies I view are awful and forgettable (sorry, Hallmark). But this offering takes a tired formula and refreshes it with real life situations (an aunt raising an orphan niece and nephew) and kids who actually ACT LIKE KIDS, not sickly sweet and/or perfect angels (thank you, Michael Damian). In short, acknowledge the flaws, but enjoy the performances and the stunning, breathtaking scenery.

A romantic, modern day fairy tale that is perfect for all the family, but especially for young girls and their Mothers, Grandmothers and their Granddaughters, Aunts & nieces, etc.

Boys, be warned, this may all be a tad emotionally mushy for your taste, but who knows, you may learn some wonderful manners during the process of watching it. Every little girl (and we are all little girls at heart), dreams of being treated like a princess, whether they like to admit it or not.

The beautiful Katie McGrath plays the lead female role and I felt at times, she gave a rather wooden performance that actually enhanced her displays of awkwardness in an unfamiliar situation and so rather than distance the viewer, it actually made her character more endearing to them.

It was wonderful to see Sir Roger Moore acting again, in his typical, suave male role.

A wonderful Christmas Fairy Story.

Only thing that spoils it is the man playing Milo...he is far too old for the part. There are numerous young actors that could have played this part better.

BEWARE OF FALSE REVIEWS & REVIEWERS. SOME REVIEWERS HAVE ONLY ONE REVIEW TO THEIR NAME. NOW WHEN ITS A POSITIVE REVIEW THAT TELLS ME THEY WERE INVOLVED WITH THE MOVIE. IF ITS A NEGATIVE REVIEW THEN THEY MIGHT HAVE A GRUDGE AGAINST THE FILM . NOW I HAVE REVIEWED OVER 200 HOLIDAY FILMS. I HAVE NO AGENDA. I AM HONEST

Jules Daly (Katie McGrath) becomes the legal guardian of her 7-year- old niece Maddie (Leilah de Meza) and teenage nephew Milo (Travis Turner). After Jules gets laid off at work, the butler of Duke Edward, the children's wealthy grandfather, appears with an invitation for Milo and Maddie to spend the Christmas holidays with his employer. Jules initially refuses, but decides to go for the children's sake.

The story "borrows" from many other movies where an "American Finds themselves related to royalty". The story also has a dash of "Little Lord Fauntleroy". The cast is very good but the plot line is nothing new or a creative take of an often told tale. The film is well made. It holds your attention but, you will forget the whole film after a good nights sleep!

one of Christmas film. seductive for its childish story, using of expectations of public , beautiful Peleș Castle and Roger Moore. and, sure, few Romanian actors. so, not great expectations or critics. because it is only a fairy tale, the classic fairy tale of Cinderella, using Christmas as pretext for remind the joy of love, family spirit, the prince and the poor girl, the dreams of childhood who becomes reality. all in a seductive story who is real charming. so, it could become a classic of the season. because it has grace and beauty and nice performances and the right cast. and this is the most important fact. to discover the spirit of Christmas as pure form of joy and flavor of fairy tale.

The movie did not flow well, especially in the beginning. Many of the characters were irritating caricatures and I felt that the romance was not developed very well. The only upside to this film is Katie McGrath. She is an amazingly talented actress and brought this poorly written character to life. Her dynamic performance is the only reason I finished the movie at all.

OK there are too many out here that have too much time on their hands to bash a movie that clearly was meant to be a sappy Christmas movie. It was a feel good movie with a nice ending. So who cares if some things didn't make sense or the acting was sub par.

I found the characters funny and for the entertainment value..it was a nice story. No, I am not going to bother putting it in the same category as other movies that warrant high critical acclaim. However, movies like these, while not out to foster high debate over whether an accent is spot on or whether or not we even need to know why Maddie wasn't titled appropriately, are often a jumping point for actors and should be looked at for what they are. Sure there are Christmas movies that offer more and demand critical discussion. For a movie like that I might turn to something that incites thought and debate..and would probably have tenured actors.

Now in my Grandma years, my tastes are changing. Where I once boo hooed TV Christmas movies, I now find them as necessary as air. This is one to skip. The lead actress loses her American accent a few times, the castle household goes from Grinch mountain to Whoville in just a matter of hours of the clumsy but beautiful woman's arrival and most of the acting is atrocious. The writing ain't that grand, either. I mean, I am not expecting Shakespeare, you know but a character named Paisley Winterbottom? A Christmas Eve ball put together with just five days to go? Such short notice explains the terrible formal wear of the guests. The lead characters dress looked like a high school home ec project. At least put some of the wardrobe budget on such an important piece. On the plus side, Sam Heughan, Roger Moore and that beautiful castle. An aside, that castle is also used for the Christmas Prince movies. It's spectacular.

I watch this movie every Christmas and it never disappoints! It's fun and light-hearted. The Christmas decorations are beautiful and the castle is gorgeous! It has great leads and a nice story. Overall, it's a great Christmas movie to watch for the holidays.

OK, it's smaltzy, contrived, and sentimental. In short, it has all the markings of a formulaic Hallmark movie.

But the terrific acting by McGrath and Moore plus the two child actors, de Meza and Turner along with the entire staff of Castlebury Castle make this film more than bearable. And, I cried off and on through the entire film. I am no crier, but something about the story and presentation really affected me, including the take down of the royal class, coupled with the melting of an old man's heart, and the children's coming to terms with the loss of their parents. And then, there is the nice chemistry between McGrath and Heughan that helps make their romance believable. It's a Christmas movie to be sure, but I could watch this film in June and enjoy it just as much.

All in all, it could have been worse. Probably a fun movie for little kids and teenage girls but there I hold the line. Normally it's fun to watch the 'not masterpiece chick flick and Christmas" movies, but now I had a lot of trouble to enjoy a simple movie. As a serious movie critique all I could see was this: Bad to moderate acting, terrible sound effect, special effects, bad makeup, childish and not at all fashionable costumes, filming was unfittung, dissapointing script. Probably a lot of people will enjoy this movie, but it is far from award winning! So for all you movie fanatics, if you like cheesy movies this is the one! If you enjoy more of a thoughtfull movie this ain't it!

When you imagined the castle of cinderlla - it may have looked like this one. When you imagined how nice Prince Charming may be - it might have been just like this one.

Its a fairy tale - are fairy tales ever meant to be realistic? Of course not!

My family did not like the movie because they believed it to be poor acting but good looking performers and a unimaginative plot.

I loved it because it was heart warming. It is not a thought provoking movie. Its lovely. That's all it is.

Merry Christmas!

I decided to watch this film because I really like both leading actors, but they had no chemistry together whatsoever. It was really cringe to watch their scenes together. I've seen her in Merlim and I'm big fan of him in Outlander so I know that both of them are good actors, but in this movie I had to skip their scenes, because the lines were really cringe. She was very clumsy since she arrived at the castle, but a person who works in an antique shop surely would be less clumsy. Also, she wore the most awful clothes ever! This is a 2011 movie, fashion did not change that much. I think that whole point was to make her look better during the ball. Overall, very disappointed because I love Christmas movie, but it was really hard to finish to watch this film.