A Princess for Christmas (2011)  

Another Fairytale Christmas

When her sister and husband died Jules Daly (Katie McGrath) became guardian too her niece and nephew, Milo (Travis Turner - Marley & Me: The Puppy Years) and Maggie (Leilah de Meza), not an easy task especially when the kids have a habit of shoplifting and she is let go from her job in an antiques shop. With Christmas coming things don't look good till the kid's estranged grandfather Edward, the Duke of Castlebury (Roger Moore - The Quest), invites them to his mansion for Christmas so he can get to know his grandchildren. But whilst things are initially frosty between everyone including the Duke's other son Ashton (Sam Heughan) eventually things start to mellow and Jules gets on with Ashton, that is untill she overhears a conversation which she misunderstands.

It has Princess in the title and features a single woman looking after her niece and nephew, if anyone expected anything more than obvious and fairytale from "A Princess for Christmas" they need a reality check. This is a movie which is so obvious, so predictable and so full of stereotypes that as a movie reviewer and lover of Christmas movies is the sort of movie you could write a review of without even spending the time watching it. Although having said that you might be bemused as this is one of those movies with alternative titles such as "Christmas at Castlebury Hall" and "A Christmas Princess".

So let me get to a few specifics with Jules being the attractive, good hearted young woman who is a bit of a fish out of water in a big mansion where she slips on the freshly polished floors. Then we have the pompous and frosty Duke who is old school when it comes to how kids should behave but of course softens and grows to be warm and friendly. There is also some kiddie chaos accompanied by Trepak from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite which for those who don't know is the music used in so many movies when it comes to scenes of Christmas chaos.

I could go on but of course at the centre of all this is Jules, her infectious good nature and of course Ashton, the Duke's son which is a completely typical storyline right down to the curve ball which appears and threatens to stop their relationship in its tracks. I wish I could be more positive but there is not a single element to "A Princess for Christmas" which you won't have seen before and whilst it handles all these typical elements nicely doesn't make it feel fresh or new. And that sadly means that whilst Katie McGrath is appealing, Roger Moore is comical and Sam Heughan is a handsome nice guy none of the performances are memorable or out of the norm.

What this all boils down to is "A Princess for Christmas" is as obvious as the day is long and is the sort of Christmas movie which will entertain young teens but anyone older will find it predictable, cliche, obvious and corny but maybe it may make them wish they were young again when this sort of thing entertained and life was more innocent.

Tags: TV Christmas Movies, Christmas Movies