In the past Lacey Chabert has starred in a number of excellent Christmas films which I've enjoyed very much, so I had high hopes for this year's offering. But I'm sorry to say that "Christmas at Castle Hart," wasn't one of her best.
So why the lukewarm reaction? Well, where to start...
1. The two lead actresses simply do NOT look like sisters in the least. They could have easily played best-friends-since-childhood, but sisters? Nope, don't believe it for a minute---they're just too physically dissimilar.
2. The film was shot during the summer, and it shows. Ireland in winter does NOT look like this---there are no leaves on the trees in Ireland in the winter! And this was a real problem, because there were a LOT of landscape shots. A computer-graphic white haze was added to the landscapes, so as to suggest snow or frost on the leaves, I guess? And poorly-rendered holiday lights and decorations were also superimposed on the castle itself. But this didn't work; completely unconvincing and distracting.
3. No real romantic chemistry between Lacey and her leading man.
4. The plot itself was ridiculous---the deception would never have held up under scrutiny in the real world. A two-minute google search would instantly have revealed that they were charlatans.
So, yeah, this was disappointing because Lacey has starred in some first-rate Christmas films in the past, and I had higher expectations. But hey, maybe her next Christmas film will be better, eh? At least this one was still better than her worst Christmas film---"The Tree That Saved Christmas." Holy cow, that one was a dud. Ha!
So why the lukewarm reaction? Well, where to start...
1. The two lead actresses simply do NOT look like sisters in the least. They could have easily played best-friends-since-childhood, but sisters? Nope, don't believe it for a minute---they're just too physically dissimilar.
2. The film was shot during the summer, and it shows. Ireland in winter does NOT look like this---there are no leaves on the trees in Ireland in the winter! And this was a real problem, because there were a LOT of landscape shots. A computer-graphic white haze was added to the landscapes, so as to suggest snow or frost on the leaves, I guess? And poorly-rendered holiday lights and decorations were also superimposed on the castle itself. But this didn't work; completely unconvincing and distracting.
3. No real romantic chemistry between Lacey and her leading man.
4. The plot itself was ridiculous---the deception would never have held up under scrutiny in the real world. A two-minute google search would instantly have revealed that they were charlatans.
So, yeah, this was disappointing because Lacey has starred in some first-rate Christmas films in the past, and I had higher expectations. But hey, maybe her next Christmas film will be better, eh? At least this one was still better than her worst Christmas film---"The Tree That Saved Christmas." Holy cow, that one was a dud. Ha!