Ooh! Brooke Shields AND Cary Elwes? This should be a good one!
Sophie (Brooke Shields), a best-selling author, is having a bit of a slump. Her most recent romance story was severely disliked by her fan base. As a result, she goes to Scotland to visit the castle where her grandfather used to work. Duke Myles (Cary Elwes), who lives at the castle, needs to sell the castle in order to settle some debts his father left him. Sophie wants to buy the castle, much to the dismay of Myles.
I think Netflix did right when they cast Shields and Elwes in A Castle for Christmas. The two of them definitely have the acting chops to pull off their respective characters. And they aren’t the only ones. The rest of the cast are completely adorable. Especially the knitting group. I think I could watch an entire series based around Rhona (Eilidh Loan).
Sure, there are some sections of the movie that are a little cringe-worthy. The third act conflict seems to come out absolutely nowhere. I understand why the writers put it there - they needed Sophie and Myles to argue about something so they could have the big romantic reconciliation at the end. But it felt unnecessary and unwarranted.
Despite the few short-comings in the story, I do recommend watching A Castle for Christmas. it may not be an annual classic but it is one of the better movies that has been released this year. Also, there’s this really cute yet reckless dog….