A nonsense adventure in Iceland.
| There are a couple of Hallmark movies a year where they increase their production budget and shoot on location overseas. This year that’s The Finnish Line and The Christmas Quest. The Christmas Quest is a nonsense story about a supposedly famous treasure hunt loosely based on an Icelandic folklore tale. The level required to suspend your disbelief is not achievable. This is something akin to Outer Banks meets The Da Vinci Code but Hallmark style. | 2024 Directed by: Dustin Rikert Screenplay by: Andrew Gerhard, Marcy Holland, Dustin Rikert Starring: Lacey Chabert, Kristoffer Polaha | |
| Lacey Chabert stars as Stefanie Baxter, a university professor in archeology who gets approached by someone who supposedly works at the university but she doesn’t know him and he’s exceedingly rich and wants to fund a trip for her to Iceland to find this hidden treasure which archeologists have been deciphering clues for and looking for it for centuries, but nobody has figured out until now. And she goes, great, and has absolutely no more questions for him, other than, “Can I bring my ex-husband along?” So then they fly from Providence to Boston. Technically I know this is possible, but nobody does it because everyone would make fun of them since it is way easier and faster to just drive. The movie gets better in Iceland, mostly because we’re actually in Iceland and we do delve into some of the traditions. As an adventure movie, I couldn’t get past the nonsense of it all. I’m sorry, but no there is not some massive hidden treasure which nobody has been able to find except for two Americans who need to break into black tie party at a museum to find the final clue. For an adventure movie, Hallmark did better with The Christmas Charade which is a bit more grounded despite also not being realistic. When Stefanie and ex-husband are about to be caught in a room of the museum they’re not supposed to be in, they start kissing to not get kicked out, and that works? And to avoid a security guard, Stefanie just stands on the other side of the wall, apparently master deception techniques at work. They should do a heist movie set at this museum since it deserves to get robbed if their security is this stupid. As a romance movie, it’s fine, but their chemistry isn’t that undeniable, and I just didn’t find anything heartwarming to it. It’s a cold movie set in Iceland, so maybe that fits. The photography is nice but the landscape is very barren and daunting. Hallmark’s other big European set movie is The Finnish Quest, which is notably better with its more realistic plot of sled dog racing and really beautiful photography of Finland at Christmas. | ||
Want a different Christmas movie or just more holiday-themed movies? Holiday Movies
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