#57 "Christmas Lodge"

We've now hit the Christmas season, and you'll see my weakness for Christmas movies. I've always been partial to Christmas movies, and now that I don't have cable anymore, I'm more inclined to buy Christmas movies on DVD. Not so good for my wallet, I know, but sometimes I just can't help myself! Since I'm already past the "C" section of my DVDs, I'm now reviewing many of my recent Christmas movie purchases (go here to read the "rules" I set forth for myself) in the order I bought them. We'll have more Christmas movie goodness later on, too, as not every Christmas movie begins with the word "Christmas." I'm currently languishing in the "F" section of my movies ... maybe by next Christmas I'll be to the Christmas movies that begin with the word "Holiday"! (Oh, and you should be thankful I didn't decide I had to review all the movies I have on videotape—I bet I've got at least 15 Christmas movies taped off of TV!)

Stats: 2011. Starring Michael Shanks & Erin Karpluk. G.

Background: I don’t remember how I first heard of Christmas Lodge—it may have been my Mom’s CBD catalog. Anyway, it caught my attention for two reasons: 1. It’s a Christmas movie. 2. It stars Erin Karpluk of Canadian TV’s Being Erica (thanks for the recommendation, Hulu!). I didn’t realize until later when I looked it up on imdb that it also stars Michael Shanks (Daniel Jackson on Stargate: SG-1). I was sold. (And I felt sorry for Shanks—that picture of him on the cover is certainly less than flattering!) I really had no intention of buying it, even though I really wanted to watch it—I was thinking about renting it from Amazon. But then I saw it at Walmart for $10 and snapped it up. Definitely an impulse buy!

Plot: While hiking in the mountains with her boyfriend, Mary (Karpluk) comes across Christmas Lodge, where her family used to spend Christmas. Now in disrepair, the lodge would take millions to bring up to code. Mary determines to use her connections in the construction and restoration world to help Jack (Shanks), the lodge’s owner, restore the building before Christmas.

Reactions: As far as Christmas movies go, this wasn’t the best, but it was far from the worst (Christmas in Wonderland, anyone?). It is completely clean and sweet, and it has some genuinely touching and funny moments. The cinematography bugged me a bit (and I never notice things like that!) when Mary was first looking around the lodge—the camera kept jumping from showing Mary to showing what she saw, and it was awkward and jumpy.

Also, I have to mention the cheesiest moment of the film. Mary’s dad is a contractor, and she’s trying to convince him to take on the renovations at Christmas Lodge. When he refuses, Mary’s grandpa pipes up with this line: “I remember a tale of a carpenter that would not turn down this job regardless of money or convenience.” I thought, “Really? You’re going there?” Yup. Grandpa even ends his little speech by saying, “You might even ask yourself, ‘What would Jesus do?’” Of course, Mary’s dad can’t argue with that, and he agrees to oversee the renovations.

Still, despite the cheesiness, I enjoyed it. (Come on—it’s Shanks! The sci-fi nerd in me was destined to love it.) Do I think you should rush out and buy it? No. But it will stay in in my Christmas movie collection, and you're welcome to borrow it.

Verdict: Keep

P.S.: The small role of Mary's boyfriend is played by Peter Benson. The name might not mean much, but if you're a Psych fan, he'll look familiar—he played Lester, the Ryan Seacrest character, on the "American Duos" episode. (If you have Netflix, you can watch it here.)