A Biltmore Christmas

Well, credit where credit is due. Hallmark swung for the fences on this one and I'd suggest they knocked it right out of the park.

A Hallmark classic, but also - dare I say? - a Christmas movie classic full stop. No tired tropes. No small towns. No festivals. None of that. Just an inspired, brilliantly-conceived plot that hits all the marks and pulls at all the heart strings.

Casting was perfect. Kristoffer Polaha was born for this role. He is brilliant as Jack Huston, his finest moment, and One Tree Hill alum Bethany Joy Lenz shines as Lucy.

Star Trek alum Jonathan Frakes and Robert Picardo are great.

The Wes Brown and Rachel Boston cameo at the end (with a nod to one of my favourites, 'Check Inn to Christmas') was fantastic.

The Biltmore is a spectacular location, and 'A Biltmore Christmas' makes full use of the historical property.

The music, the sets, the costumes: all astounding. The recreation of Hollywood's Golden Age was perfect.

So, so good. In every way.

Call me crazy, call this hyperbole, but, this is one of the finest if not THE finest Hallmark Christmas Movies I have ever seen. Clever and creative and oozing with charm and real romance and Christmas joy that does not feel forced or a pale carbon copy of a movie they have already made six dozen times. The two leads give outstanding performances and have sensational chemistry and all of the supporting players have a great time playing with the 1940s parlance and style. In an abstract way, one could almost think of this as a riff of the weepy romantic classic Somewhere in Time, but, with the genders reversed. This is the third movie Hallmark has put out in 2023 that has surpassed my expectations. This is really interfering with my annual holiday tradition of Hate Watching the mediocre ones! Highly recommended, even if you think you don't like Hallmark Christmas Movies!

Loved this Hallmark Christmas movie! Like Lucy I felt transported to the Biltmore during Christmas in the 1940s. Bethany Joy and Kristoffer had magical chemistry. Bethany Joy was absolutely beautiful! More Jonathan Frakes on Hallmark please! The costumes were beautiful and the cars pristine.

I hope to spend the holidays at the Biltmore in the next year or two. It has always been on my bucket list. This movie moved it to the top! I highly recommend this movie and I anticipate it will be an annual must see! The Biltmore and Ashville certainly deserve top billing on this soon to be classic Christmas movie!

I avoid Christmas movies like the plague. They are often dumb, tedious, and eye-rollingly boring. The whole genre went down the drain after the first year or two when Hallmark got ridiculous about them.

But I saw this one had Frakes in it.

I'm a huge TNG fan. So after thinking about it I decided to give it a shot.

I am glad I did I enjoyed it. It's a classy movie with a good script, good acting, strong characters and fine production. It goes by quickly.

I like that the main character is fully realized. My memory of these Hallmark Christmas movies is that they were cookie cutter things that had come off an assembly line.

But I did not get that sense here.

There is one character that I found annoying (the woman with the camera) but I even warmed up to her. Maybe I'm just getting old but I enjoyed this and even cried at the end.

I recommend it.

A really lovely movie. Beautifully filmed and acted. The pace was perfection, the costumes were wonderful. The leads had great chemistry, indeed, the whole cast was amazing. Hallmark seems to do very well with time related and/or historic venue movies. The settings and ambience add something very special. A Timeless Christmas, Christmas at the Ritz, and Jolly Good Christmas are some of my favorites. These movies have a sense of magic and beauty that a lot of the silly, semi-romantic comedies seem to gloss over. Even if moments are predictable., I still wanted to see them acted out. Thank you, Hallmark, for Christmas Magic.