Un Noël so British

How sad that the wonderful, attractive and so talented Will Kemp was so mis-used in this film. The story was clever, sweet, and adorable! The views of London were thrilling, and the young woman lead actress was beautiful and charming and quite a good actress.

All that said, my only focus has to be on how poorly Will Kemp was portrayed in this romantic story. Will is a ballet dancer. He has phenomenal physical grace and presence. He moves, he holds his body, his head in the most classic and lovely manner. To have him portrayed here as an American with almost a ridiculous script to follow, was a sheer waste, and almost an insult to this very lovely, talented man.

The phony American accent he had to use was so distracting, and so poorly pronounced, it was painful to watch him go through that script. Why could he simply not have been British?

I wonder if the Hallmark actors have any input or say into the characters they portray. If Will Kemp is simply under contract and has to do what he is "assigned" to do, poor fellow. This was so far beneath his skill set and his lovely personal image.

All that aside, this was a charming story. The young woman lead was perfect in every scene. Kudos also to the actors portraying her parents.

The only problem with all of it was the poor use, the sheer mis-use of the wonderful Will Kemp. Next movie, please, some dignity for this lovely man, and maybe even some dancing. He is a phenomenal as a dancer and an actor. Look back at Royal Matchmaker.

Hallmark, let's be a bit more kind to him. When such stunning grace and talent is available, why not use to the fullest and show us what you've got?

6.4 stars.

A Hallmark movie set in London with people from London and an American with a strange accent. I don't know what that was all about, but he sounded like he was trying to sound American?

The setting in London is great, and the rest was Hallmark. This is just like the million based in Chicago, Boston, upstate Maine, and maybe the occasional Seattle, or NY. It had a British feel to it, credit where credit is due, they must have had some staff who knew how to give it that European sort of flair.

The dialogue was ordinary, the sets were good, the acting was good, the theme was tired, the chemistry was late. Please do another one in London with a better script and energy. Please, please, please.

Bravo to Hallmark branching out into London more! Give me ALL the UK, European locations you can throw at me! -especially at Christmas time!

Unfortunately, it was difficult watching Will Kemp do an American accent; I would have raised my review 2 stars if it was Brit! The actress who played Anjali was adorable, but her being a chronic hustler was not very appealing. That said, the storyline lacked appeal. All Hallmark had to do was watch a couple Michael Damian movies for inspiration. Europe is magical at Christmas time, and so much more could have been done with this great location and great cast, but unfortunately, I felt let down. Storyline/teleplay was slow and not very romantic. It was a mere 5 for me, and I did want so much to love it.

-Did I mention that dismal "American" accent? Poor Will Kemp...

Will Kemp is usually good but this movie he suffered from BadAccentitis. I found myself parroting the phrases or words that sounded really ridiculous. Was the accent New Yorker or Southern? I have no idea. I would have been very happy to have both leads be British. He could have been British born, states raised and now returned. Whatever I'm hyper focusing.

Overall, the movie is pleasant. Other than the fake accent, I like both leads. Love the London Christmas setting, it makes up for fact that there are only like 5 characters total. I'm happy we saw a little dancing from Mr. Kemp, but I was hoping for a waltz.

Very much enjoyed this movie. Production value was very good, as were the actors - who were refreshing for their maturity.

Yes, we've seen the personal shopper storyline before. But this one was done well.

It also was delightful to see how ethnic Indians are integrated into British society; what coould be more British than owning a pub?

I loved the British scenery, and the reference to the King tells me this was filmed later in the year - or the producers took the time to update one scene.

The true test is how many times I'd watch this again. I could probably watch this 5 times or so, hence it rates an 8.