There were some lovely elements holding this Christmas tale together (Sam Heughan, castle, snow, scenery) like a basted hem.. barely. If only the makers of the movie had put as much attention into casting a couple with charisma, or into details such as wardrobe, as they did in the sets and scenery, then this could have been a jewel of a movie.
The clothes they dressed Jules in were just hideous. They were outdated and frumpy, such as you would find at a Salvation Army thrift store. "But at least they will dress her in an elegant gown for the Ball, and fix her hair!", I assumed.
Well, I assumed wrong. Clearly, they sent some children into an arts & crafts class, gave them some Elmer's glue, cheap sequins, and scraps of costume rejects and said "Have at it, kids!" I don't think I have ever seen an uglier, tackier dress in all my life! Ditto for her hair. It was too black (a lighter shade or some highlights would have softened her look), and in a woefully outdated style. And as if making her look like an octogenarian wasn't bad enough, they chose an actress who had a limited range of emotions and zero chemistry with the prince, who evidently fell in love with her literally overnight and married her a nano-second after that. (Compare Ashton's chemistry with Jules to Jamie's chemistry with Claire; we're talking about night and day here).
Another casting fail, in my opinion, was Milo. He was just not right for this role. Worse, the actor was nearly twice the age of the character he played.
Sam Heughan was perfect, as always.. however, his role was so limited that the idea of him being in love with Jules was simply preposterous. It's like as if a year had been removed from the plot.. the year where the romance was cultivated and bloomed. We didn't get to see that. We saw them do a waltz, kiss, and marry.
Criticism aside, I still enjoyed this for the Christmas cookie that it was. I don't expect Gone With The Wind in these cut and paste holiday treats. I watch it for the scenes of snow on evergreens, and quaint towns decked out for the holidays, with Christmas tree lots and jingle bell sound effects. In that respect, I was not disappointed.
The clothes they dressed Jules in were just hideous. They were outdated and frumpy, such as you would find at a Salvation Army thrift store. "But at least they will dress her in an elegant gown for the Ball, and fix her hair!", I assumed.
Well, I assumed wrong. Clearly, they sent some children into an arts & crafts class, gave them some Elmer's glue, cheap sequins, and scraps of costume rejects and said "Have at it, kids!" I don't think I have ever seen an uglier, tackier dress in all my life! Ditto for her hair. It was too black (a lighter shade or some highlights would have softened her look), and in a woefully outdated style. And as if making her look like an octogenarian wasn't bad enough, they chose an actress who had a limited range of emotions and zero chemistry with the prince, who evidently fell in love with her literally overnight and married her a nano-second after that. (Compare Ashton's chemistry with Jules to Jamie's chemistry with Claire; we're talking about night and day here).
Another casting fail, in my opinion, was Milo. He was just not right for this role. Worse, the actor was nearly twice the age of the character he played.
Sam Heughan was perfect, as always.. however, his role was so limited that the idea of him being in love with Jules was simply preposterous. It's like as if a year had been removed from the plot.. the year where the romance was cultivated and bloomed. We didn't get to see that. We saw them do a waltz, kiss, and marry.
Criticism aside, I still enjoyed this for the Christmas cookie that it was. I don't expect Gone With The Wind in these cut and paste holiday treats. I watch it for the scenes of snow on evergreens, and quaint towns decked out for the holidays, with Christmas tree lots and jingle bell sound effects. In that respect, I was not disappointed.