My first inclination for this introduction was to simply write: Why A Biltmore Christmas (2023)?  Why not?  I mean, it is a Hallmark film.  If you know about their usual material, there would be little more I would need to say.  Then it turned out that this one involves time travel.  Now, I cannot claim to have seen every Christmas movie.  There are more of these productions than you can possibly imagine.  I have watched many of them, however, and going back to the past is a new one on me.  Of course, this comes with all my usual caveats about this having nothing to do with the holiday in the title, and the fact it is what another location Christmas flick.  It is part and parcel of this idea of the magic of the season, which is a poor representation of what people unwittingly mean this time of year regarding its true purpose: the birth of Jesus.  That is the real miracle, not enchanted hour glasses.

Yes, it is sand moving between two connected, glassy globes that is a prop in a movie within the movie that is A Biltmore Christmas, which allows for time travel.  It is from fictional production from 1947 called His Merry Wife, and it is what Lucy Collins (Bethany Joy Lenz) is attempting to adapt for a modern audience for her boss, studio executive Michael Balaban (Tommy Cresswell).  She wants a more realistic ending than the original, which has the angel-to-be, Jack Huston (Kristoffer Polaha), giving away his former lover, Ava Hayward (Annabelle Bork), to her new guy, Claude Lancaster (Colton Little).  Instead of a happy ending, Lucy is pushing for one with Ava heading off on her own.  In order to convince Lucy to change her mind, Michael sends his writer to the eponymous Vanderbilt estate where the original shoot took place.  Upon arriving, despite wanting to simply take a nap, the estate’s docent with whom the script says she is to work, Winston (Jonathan Frakes), insists that she take a tour of the grounds with him.  As she does so, she is given special access to the library where she spots the time traveling hour glass, though she is unaware of its properties when she inadvertently gives it a quick turn.  Walking out of the room, she finds herself on working film set where everyone dressed as if it is the 1940s, with a group of people claiming to be the actors and actresses she came to love in the film she is rewriting.  The main person with whom she interacts is the affable Jack, who is immediately taken with her.  She does not believe what is happening and goes into another room, counts to three, and is back in her own time period.  It is not until she spots a call sheet displayed in the museum and compares it to the one she had pilfered in 1947 that she realizes what has happened.  Because she wants to get to know what she is working on more, she returns to 1947 to do some digging.  When she does, she is spotted by a production assistant and attempts to pass herself off as Sandra Bullock (not pictured), even appearing as an extra in the movie.  It is during this little jaunt that she finds out that His Merry Wife had a different ending, one more akin to the one she envisions.  Her time runs out before she can get anymore answers.  As soon as she reappears in the future, it is to a stunned Margaret (A. K. Benninghofen), a superfan of His Merry Wife who becomes Lucy’s confidant in these strange occurrences.  The next day, Margaret offers her help to Lucy, saying she will keep an eye on the time piece until Lucy returns.  Perhaps predictably, one of the first things Lucy accomplishes in 1947 is to break the hourglass, which means she is stuck in 1947 for the foreseeable . . . er, future.  In order to keep from being escorted off the premises, she manages to convince everyone that she is a representative of the studio, which is technically true.  This gives her access to the movie’s director, William West (David Alexander), with whom she confers about the overall course of the production.  She learns that he had wanted to have the so-called “realistic” ending, with Ava not being with anyone.  This stems from his own estrangement from his wife.  The other is Jack, who believes that the story should have a happier, more self-sacrificial conclusion, the one that sees Jack encourage Ava to be with Claude.  Jack’s romantic side is also being poured out upon the intriguing Lucy.  Upon revealing to William that Claude has a list of names with which to replace Ava, the actress finds it and abruptly departs.  Feeling responsible for showing it to William in the first place, Lucy volunteers to go after the star, and Jack goes with to drive.  Jack and Lucy convince Ava to return, earning the celebrity’s gratitude.  It is also during this jaunt that Jack invites Lucy to be his date for the crew Christmas Eve party to be had that night at the Biltmore.  As you can probably guess, they are falling in love, but it is as they are kissing that she realizes that she is not doing the right thing.  Besides, she has recently learned that the hourglass has been repaired.  It also helps that Harold Balaban (Robert Picardo) has arrived and denied having sent Lucy to the set to keep an eye on the progress of the shoot.  Sad that she must leave, Lucy locates the time piece, but gives Jack enough of a warning about his fate a year after her departure.  It is just in time (pun intended), too, because Winston is about to put the hourglass away for good.  A year passes and Lucy is back at the Biltmore seeing her vision for His Merry Wife being filmed.  As that wraps for the night, as she is taking in the stars, Jack appears in the door behind her.

What I wished as the Jack and Lucy kiss and the end credits roll in A Biltmore Christmas was that there would be some cut scenes with Jack adjusting to life in 2023.  The only thing we get is him locking around and say, “So, this is the future?”  A person standing at the front entrance of the Biltmore estate could come from almost any time period and not be out of place.  I just wanted to see him try to use a smart phone!  As silly as that would be, what is of value is the lesson learned by Lucy.  Before traveling from Los Angeles to the Biltmore, she makes the point that people always choose their own happiness before anyone else’s.  There is some truth to this statement.  Whether we are pointing it out as a flaw in another, or justifying selfishness as something necessary for ourselves in a given moment, most tend to think of themselves first.  She is speaking from a place of woundedness, she later admits, adding that one needs to protect oneself by not getting attached to others.  It is Jack that speaks to the Christian point of view on such matters.  Before continuing, there is one matter to address.  The notion about people “earning their wings” to become angels is bad theology.  It has been in other Christmas films, not just the one made up for this movie, and it irks me every time I see it.  When we pass away, we are not given a harp, sprout feathers, or take up a perch in the clouds.  Angels are their own creation.  Further, they cannot make the kind of commitment Jack advocates for, that is giving everything up for the sake of another’s happiness.  That is arguably one of the better definitions of Christian altruism I have seen in cinema.  It is also a big statement.  As mentioned about Lucy, it is easier to look out for ourselves than to think of another.  It is safer.  It is also the path of least resistance, which is not one God calls us to do.  He asks that we entrust our whole lives to Him, and that looks different for each of us.  For some that is remaining celibate for the sake of the Kingdom.  For others it is in finding a spouse.  In Jack’s case, it is giving up a career in Hollywood to travel eighty years into the future.

That last one illustrates how absurd is A Biltmore Christmas.  That can also be used to describe a lot of these movies.  Still, I found myself being a little less grouchy while watching this one, so that is something.  If you had to pick a Christmas film, there are worse choices despite the cheesiness.