Christmas-Reviewer BEWARE OF BOGUS REVIEWS. SOME REVIEWERS HAVE ONLY REVIEWED THIS FILM. THAT TELLS ME THEY WERE INVOLVED WITH THE PRODUCTION. I HAVE REVIEWED OVER 200 Christmas MOVIES. I HAVE NO AGENDA. I AM FARE ABOUT THESE FILMS. When you watch a "Christmas theme" film you know what your in for. Now does this film break new ground? "No" but not every film maker wants to do that. Some of them want to tell stories about "Faith, hope and love" and that is what they did here and they made a film well worth watching! Some people might be bothered by the overall religious themes in this but this a "Christmas Film" with a nice message.In this film Mary Tobin has wonderful memories of family gatherings at the Christmas Lodge. When she arrives for a weekend vacation, she quickly realizes that the lodge she loves has fallen into serious disrepair. With a lack of funds she is sets out to find a way to save the lodge. I really enjoyed the film and its message about why traditions are important. Now it never tell you that outright but it shows you. The film is well paced and the leads are very charming. Michael Shanks is excellent and I hope to see him again in other films. If your someone that grew up with large family gatherings for Christmas then you will enjoy this film. I also want to point out this film makes you want to celebrate life with your loved ones! So watch it with someone you love. If your a guy watch it with your girlfriend. I have now watched this every Christmas for the past 3 years. The film just gets better to me.

slam256 Way too preachy to my taste. In all honesty, it felt like a catholic priest was directing the movie.The characters were not believable and never once there were real conflicts or disagreements. The majority of the time they were smiling like idiots without any reasons.The two boys and their father did not even say boo!!! They just stood there like props. I can't believe that in a 2011 a man would say to a women "I wish you could come live with me at the lodge if we were married". It was a ROFL moment for me.I've seen school plays with more feelings.Please save yourself money and don't even rent it, unless you are a bible thumper. Only they'll be satisfied with this drivel of a movie. Too bad I cannot give zero out of ten. This is basically the worse Christmas movie made in the past 30 to 40 years.

ryansassy1 I'm a sucker for a good, get-in-the-mood Christmas movie as much as anybody else -- some of my favorites are Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, Home Alone, A Christmas Story, and Elf. It's my habit to start watching Christmas films the weekend after Thanksgiving to get myself into the spirit of the coming holidays. So last year I rented Christmas Lodge, and really, really tried to get into the spirit...or at least the story...the romance?....meh. Okay, it was a nice setup for picturesque wintertime scenery.Christmas Lodge's plot is about a woman who is inspired to restore an old family building to please her dying grandfather. I hope I got that much right, because honestly, a year later the details escape me (not a good sign for the memorability factor). In any case, there's a subplot about a romance between the lead actress and another man who also has connections to the lodge; lots of family memory moments; and a wholesome message about faith in God.It pains me to have to put down a film with such good intentions and Christian messages, but..there is no charitable way to say that I thought the acting was flat and wooden all around. Any higher praise than that is simply lying. The dialog and the overall direction of the story did nothing to make me engaged or interested in the characters or their plight: I can barely even remember most of it, except that the production values seemed decent, because this is a "Thomas Kinkade Presents" after all..but the guy's a painter, not a filmmaker. Whatever made him decide to sell his name for movies? Films are a lot more than pretty "moving pictures"-- somebody should have thought of that before making this one.So dear readers, my purpose in outing this movie is now clear: I don't want anybody to waste their time/money on Christmas Lodge simply because a famous name that appeals to Christians and evokes sentimentalism is plastered on the cover. It's such a blatant money-grab on the part of the producers. There are a much more heartwarming and romantic Christmas films out there than this one if that's your desire.

rangeriderrango This movie had no competent script, the actors were sleepwalking through their parts, there was no chemistry between the romantic leads and all the actors seemed like they were cardboard cutouts. There was no conviction from anyone in this. It was totally unbelievable.The settings and scenery were nice. But there was no sense that Christmas was even anticipated in any way. No snow on the ground, no lights or decorations anywhere, no Christmas music, no Christmas spirit, this film was totally lacking in life.God and Christianity were poorly interpreted in this vehicle and the whole premise was lacking substance. It had a lot of potential and so much could have been done with these actors and the setting had they perhaps had the right director, but in the end it was very boring and forgettable. I had such high hopes before watching this that it would be a memorable and heartwarming story. It was a big disappointment.