One of the benefits, if it could be called that, of going to the bottom of the Christmas movie barrel is seeing different performers than you would get in more mainstream features.  That is probably more of a bonus for a film nerd like myself, but I also have to dig deep to find something fresh to say about them.  What I can tell you is that I have been finding the ones that have carols in them that speak to the Christian roots of the holiday have been relatively more enjoyable, at least this year.  It could be an odd quirk that the writing has been tighter with these selections.  Having said that, I did note the inclusion of more than a couple of montages in A Very British Christmas (2019).  Believe me, I like a good montage.  At the same time, an abundance of them in a given production could be an indication that those responsible for it have run out of things to say.  As such, you may be in store for a shorter than usual review.

Though she does not yet know it, renowned opera singer Jessica (Rachel Shenton) is about to have A Very British Christmas.  She is stuck somewhere in Merry Old England, waiting for a train to take her to some sort of civilization since her flight had been delayed to the next day.  The station agent (David Fleeshman) tells her to get on the next conveyance, get off after two stops, and she should be able to find accommodations.  The peacefulness of the English country lulls her into sleep and she ends up overshooting her destination.  Luckily, the coffee shop into which she steps in this village is run by Amber (Jennifer Bryer), a fellow American.  Though she says there is no place to stay here either, she is able to direct Jessica to a lodging on the outskirts of town.  Its proprietor is Andrew (Mark Killeen), and he is barely making it with the help of his mother, Sandra (Michele Dotrice), and young daughter, Katie (Isla Cook).  Andrew’s wife had passed away, and he has resisted attempts by his neighbor, Ben (Steve Evets), to sell their land to a developer looking to build a mine in the area.  Andrew does not want to lose a piece of his past that connected him to his deceased spouse, and later it comes to seeking to stop the corporation wanting to do the mining from destroying their town.  For the moment, Andrew welcomes Jessica to her rooms.  While she is getting settled, her eye is drawn to a painting on the wall, her compliments bringing a small bit of pride out of Andrew since it is his work.  Her kind words have him wanting to return the gesture by providing her with breakfast in the morning, which is not something normally done in the establishment.  Yet, because Sandra is eager for her son to find someone new, she is only too happy to serve Jessica.  And thus begins the inevitable romance that is to be expected from these movies.  It is complicated somewhat by the fact that she is due to sing in Vienna in a couple of days.  It is not only Andrew that makes leaving harder, but little Katie, too.  It also does not help that the airline calls with short windows for her to make it from her rural location to the terminal for a flight.  The other mitigating factor is the continued promises she makes to Katie to do things with a girl that could give Shirley Temple a run for her cuteness money.  Still, Jessica wants to honor her obligations, telling her agent, Marvin (Craig Wilde), to keep pushing back canceling dates of scheduled performances.  Aside from romantic feelings, Jessica is coming to appreciate the quaintness of the town and, in particular, Andrew’s business.  Though he at first resists some of her ideas for new revenue streams, Sandra reminds him that Jessica has good intentions.  Thus, once he relents, Jessica is able to secure for him a lucrative deal with a large American retailer to sell his art to them.  This will allow him to not only resist taking the offer from the mining company, but also gives him the freedom to tell Ben that he will buy his neighbor’s land in order to prevent the mine.  Despite these good fortunes, Jessica continues to feel a duty to the career she has worked so hard to build, and finally agrees to leaving on Christmas Eve in order to sing at Carnegie Hall in New York City.  She is going to go despite Marvin telling her that such a travel plan will be impossible to complete.  It is while she is back at the train station and talking to the same agent as before, with the snow beginning to fall, that she decides to stay.  Taking the flurry as an omen that this is the correct move since it has not happened in a while, she returns to the town square where there is a Christmas concert going on and surprises Andrew, Katie, and Sandra.

This last sequence in A Very British Christmas is, thankfully, not done as a montage.  What is also nice about it is that as her taxi pulls up to where the concert is taking place, the choir is singing “O Holy Night.”  The other seasonal song that is performed is “Silent Night.”  The only real Christian take to have about the film is Jessica’s willingness to follow the path to which she is being called with Andrew.  God resides in our hearts and speaks to us there, so whenever we feel those promptings there, they likely come from Him.  Still, that is a rather generic analysis, though no less true.  To be more specific, let us return to the two carols mentioned earlier in this paragraph.  Because so few of these films have anything directly to do with Christianity, this one being no exception, I have to use songs to remind you all as to the importance of remembering the root word in the holiday.  Tunes like “O Holy Night” and “Silent Night” tell the story of Jesus’ birth in some of the most beautiful musical forms ever conceived.  There is historical evidence for this fact, particular for the latter of these.  During World War I, British and German soldiers in opposing trenches had an impromptu ceasefire on that Holy Night, coming together in “No Man’s Land” between the two lines.  What do to groups of soldiers who do not speak speak the same language sing with one another on such an occasion?  It was one with which they were both familiar, “Silent Night.”  It may be silly to compare the two, but it is nice that this is being sung as two lovers come together at the end of the film.  Love is capable of incredible things of you let it work, like calming two armies for a little while, or making a career woman realize her true calling.

Yes, A Very British Christmas is pretty cheesy.  But it is British, so it has that going for it.  It is no different from any of its cinematic cousins, so whatever.  It is also not objectionable in any way, so take that for what you will.