Prime Time: Christmas At Plumhill Manor (2024)

I may have mentioned this before, but there are two names very familiar to anyone who was busy conversing on the IMDb message boards back at the turn of the 21st century. Those names are Nick Palumbo and Brian Herzlinger. The former claimed to have made a notorious and unsettling gorefest or two, and the latter was busy telling everyone about his clumsy and lacklustre movie, My Date With Drew. What they both had in common was a knack for spamming. It was hard to get beyond those irritating/unpleasant interactions and actually rate the movies according to simply the movie itself, but I tried hard. Still . . . seeing either name on the opening credits will always cause me to shudder.

Christmas At Plumhill Manor is directed by Brian Herzlinger, with a screenplay co-written by Megan Henry Herzlinger (who seems to be his wife and seems to, at the moment, exclusively gain work from her husband) and Avery Henry-Bailey. While I wouldn't call it the worst of the worst, it has clarified something in my mind about Herzlinger. He's better at selling an idea of his film than he is at actually making the thing, although I'll have to begrudgingly make the slightest concession towards being complimentary for the fact that he has somehow done enough over the past couple of decades to maintain the career that he wanted when he first started out.

But let's get to the film. A successful American architect named Margot (Maria Menounos) is very surprised when she inherits and old English estate from her Aunt Victoria. Margot never knew this relation, but it turns out that the two might yet forge a strong connection between them. Initially determined to check out the property while she is forced to stay there for one week, Margot soon comes around to the charm of the area and the local people. She is also intrigued by a series of notes/clues left by her Aunt Victoria that end up directing her to . . . well, you'll have to wait and see.

If this premise wasn't written with the idea of naming the film Victoria's Secret Christmas, or maybe Christmas Victoria's Secret, then I'll eat any of the paper party hats that fall out of the Christmas crackers this year. That would be more fun than listening to Menounos read out the various clues here that lead to horribly obvious answers, and a conclusion that makes no sense (although, to be fair, that's a common element in many Christmas movies, but it's easier to overlook in the more enjoyable ones).

Although she's not great, Menounos isn't a terrible lead. She was clearly picked for her availability ahead of her acting talent though, as far as I can tell, and is outshone by a number of her co-stars. Kyle Pryor tries hard as Alfie, the handsome local man who catches her eye, and obviously argues passionately in favour of keeping the estate in the hands of someone who will care enough about it. Caroline Colomei is reasonably fun as Jackie, the driver/helper/local bartender, but her comedy patter feels far too broad and whacky compared to the rest of the film. Stewart Alexander swaggers into a couple of scenes as the American boss, Mr. Calvaux, who is interested in redesigning and rebuilding the estate, and David Shaw Parker is absolutely fine in the role of Thomas, a kind and wise gardener, as well as the father of Alfie.

While it's not good, it has some picturesque footage (even if it rarely feels Christmassy enough), bland leads set to enjoy some chaste romance once they can see eye to eye, some home-made plum cider, and an annoyingly "sweet" child who at least only appears in a couple of scenes. I don't want my opinion of Herzlinger to sway me towards being too harsh on it, but I also don't want my worry about being swayed towards being too harsh on it then sway me towards being too kind to it. What a conundrum. Is it terrible? No, not for what it aims to do. Would I recommend it?  No. There are a lot of better Christmas movies to enjoy ahead of this one.

3/10

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Yule Love It: A Christmas Movie Christmas (2019)

I knew that I had to see A Christmas Movie Christmas as soon as I saw the trailer for it. The plot is simple, yet potentially wonderful. Two sisters wake up to find themselves IN a Christmas movie. That's it. And it means you can have all of your comforting tropes, yet also have some laughs at their expense. In theory.

There were warning signs, however. First up, this is a film directed by Brian Herzlinger. He has moved on to make a pretty decent career for himself, certainly in the TV movie world, but film fans, like myself, who had to put up with his relentless spamming and childish behaviour on IMDb back when he was trying to get people to see his first movie, My Date With Drew, will always react badly to seeing his name. If you want to know how to make friends and influence people then study the behaviour of Herzlinger back between the years of 2004-2005 and do the exact opposite.

The second warning sign was that this was written by Brant and Kimberly Daugherty, a newly-married (at this time) couple who also give themselves main roles in the movie. I expected the worst, considering how the two might be working while wearing the rose-tinted glasses of honeymooning lovers, but also figured that I already tolerate enough extra sweetness in my Christmas movies anyway so maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

You know what? It wasn't so bad. Although that doesn't mean the movie was really good.

Lana McKissack plays Eve, and Mrs Daugherty is her sister, Lacy. Eve LOVES Christmas movies. Lacy does not. Both must navigate their way around some very typical plotting when they find themselves in one, with no idea of how they got there or how they can get back to reality. Lacy starts to connect with a handsome man who is also a dab hand at baking cookies (Paul, played by her husband). Eve is drawn to a young man named Dustin (Ryan Merriman, best known to film fans for his role in Final Destination 3, although it's worth remembering that a decade has passed since then). But complications arise in the shape of Russell (Randy Wayne), a pop singer who looks exactly like Eve's real-world partner, Chad, and Noele (Addy Stafford), a woman who sweeps in under the pretence of saving the traditional Christmas festival, but who is mainly there to be an obstacle on the path of true love between Eve and Dustin.

Although there's nothing here that is painfully bad, there's nothing here that's as good as it should be either. This should have been a lot of fun, a way for everyone to have their Christmas pudding AND eat it, but very few scenes make the most of the premise. Most of the blame must lie with the script, with Mr & Mrs Daugherty often casting aside the meta potential, and comedic potential, in favour of Christmas movie moments you can get from at least a hundred other, often better, movies. A couple of details work well, and the whole premise is all part of the fun, which is worth bearing in mind, but this could have been a lot funnier, without having to lose any of the sweetness.

As disappointed as I was with the script, it turns out that I didn't really have much to fear from the Daughertys, who both do well enough onscreen. Perhaps they are given a bit more attention than necessary, and you get a few shots that linger just a tad too long on them, but they do fine. McKissack and Merriman are better, however, and deserving of the lead roles. The former has a sense of glee and enthusiasm throughout, at least until things start to look like they could fall apart, and the latter is a standard nice guy for this kind of plot. Wayne and Stafford both do well in their roles, although it's a shame neither was given a character who would provide more of a threat to the proceedings, and Brigid Duffy is a delight in her small role as Gram Gram.

As director, Herzlinger does the basics required of him. He may now have a film career spanning fifteen years, but he still seems to approach material in a way that feels like he wants to get everything done without any fuss. There's no attempt to add anything to make his films stand out from the pack, even though I realise that can be hard to do with the Christmas TV movie restrictions in place.

A Christmas Movie Christmas should have been good fun, especially for anyone who has seen as many of these movies as I have (and I know there are more of you out there). Sadly, it's just okay.

5/10

Buy The Muppet Christmas Carol instead.

Christmas Angel (2012)

When I saw the opening credits of Christmas Angel my heart sank. It's a film directed by Brian Herzlinger. If you're unfamiliar with that name then you were lucky enough to avoid the My Date With Drew drama on IMDb a number of years ago, in which Herzlinger spectacularly failed to realise the difference between enjoyable, friendly self-promotion on a chat forum and having to use hyperbole, lies and petty insults to stand your ground on a movie that few people had heard of at the time, let alone formed any opinion on. My Date With Drew was bad, but it wasn't THAT bad. If he'd gone about things in a different way then he may have received some grudging compliments. But he didn't. I only hope, for all concerned, that he's learned his lessons and moved on. Because nobody needs to sail through THAT shitstorm twice in one lifetime.

So let's get to this film. And let me say right now that I quite enjoyed it. I didn't love it - it's one of the many Christmassy TV movies that always reminds viewers that it's a Christmassy TV movie - but it was harmless enough, and featured a few good lead performances helping things along. Heck, the story was almost just the right level of sweetness to make you care without making you vomit. Almost.

The plot concerns a young girl (Olivia, played by Izabela Vidovic) who decides to investigate further when a number of wishes, made by her fellow classmates, are fulfilled. Olivia wants a husband for her mother (played by Teri Polo), a situation that looks a bit more likely when Nathan Davis (Kevin Sorbo) comes into their life. But Nathan isn't the man that Olivia wanted for her mother. Can she make her own wish come true? Perhaps the old woman (Della Reese) living nearby can help.

The script here is perfectly acceptable for a Christmas confection, and the performances from all involved are pretty good. Vidovic often veers over from cute territory to smug, but I guess most people won't be as bothered as I was by that balancing act. Polo and Sorbo do well, with the former especially likable and the latter doing a good "is he or isn't he a grinch?" routine. Reese is a lot of fun as the woman who may be holding one or two secrets, and Tamera Mowry-Hously and Jaiden Kaine help to liven things up, playing friends of the character played by Polo, a couple not averse to some minor meddling if it sees their friend happy.

There's nothing here that's great, but it could be good, if not for one main aspect. Yes, you may have guessed it, the direction. A lot of it is competent enough (I mean, this isn't exactly Gravity that we're watching), but then there are moments when the camerawork/framing is so clumsy that it takes you out of the movie, and you need to stay immersed in a light piece of work like this. Despite what he may think if he ever reads this, and I know Herzlinger certainly used to keep a close eye on reviews of his work, this is not me looking for an excuse to bash him. I'm not saying that his work on the film is inept, but there are certainly times when it's lacking, even for a TV movie.

All in all, Christmas Angel evens out to be a pretty average, ultimately quite enjoyable, story to watch during the Yuletide season.

5/10

http://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Angel-Kevin-Sorbo/dp/B008EFDC6M/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1387876767&sr=8-3&keywords=christmas+angel