A Heidelberg Holiday (2023) -
Tell someone that you love them, but shout it at them in German because life is unexpected and full of surprises.
I know that here in Europe we have all the history, but there are a lot of these films out there now. They show how a different country celebrates the festive season and the differences between the American culture and the particular country of choice and in this case it was Germany, but it WAS another trip over the pond with the idea of promoting those differences and it was maybe delivered in a way that was a bit twee and folksy.
Everyone was all so pleasant and accommodating, which while sad to say, hasn't generally been the experience that I have found anywhere in the world.
With that said there were of course a couple of rude, super efficient, German characters, which didn't represent their people very well.
Because the family and so on were all so very enthusiastic, it was a lot to take. However Lukas, played by Frédéric Brossier was charming and attractive and initially the only reason that I stayed with this film, because although Ginna Claire Mason in her role of Heidi Heidelberg visiting Heidelberg (Yep! They did that!) wasn't abrasive in any way, I didn't really connect with her otherwise and personally I thought the Glass Baubles that she had hand painted to sell at the illustrious German Market were pretty crap. I certainly wouldn't have been happy as a customer at the end of the film either.
I did like the fact that the big upsetting issue that usually breaks the couples up temporarily in these films was not actually a fallout between the two leads but something else entirely. I get so bored of that.
Apart from that I was frustrated by her frequent abandonment of her Bauble stall, because that really was no way to do business.
And there were some really mixed accents thrown in amongst the family. The sister seemed like she might be trying to hide an Irish twang at times.
It wasn't actually a bad film at all and although I did think that Frédéric Brossier was the main appeal to it, the story and its production were done very well with all sorts of lovely scenery and history thrown in on top of a well thought out narrative, despite needing a slightly less treacly script. It was warm and glowy, which is all that's really needed for one of these seasonal specials.
6.46/10.