It’s November, everyone! And I know this is coming out on Thanksgiving, so Happy Thanksgiving!
But we’re in the final countdown to Christmas. Hopefully you aren’t tired of Christmas movies by now since Hallmark has been playing them for almost a month.
So we’re close to wrapping up our movie recaps/reviews for this year. And I hope you can look back and put together a good Christmas movie marathon now.
And we’re going to add another one to that list – The Christmas Carousel!
Lullay, thou little child/Sleep well, lully, lullay/And smile in dreaming SPOILERS!
Lila (Rachel Boston) works in the arts and is in line to run a center that would provide arts education opportunities for children. But she’s hesitant to accept it because it would mean moving away from her widowed father, Roy (Stuart Hughes). He tries to encourage her to take it and to spread her wings because he’ll be fine. She’s not so sure.
But then her father is summoned to some small European country – because it’s always a small European country – to repair a carousel their family built many, many years ago. So it’s time for a trip. I’m sure there’s going to be a handsome prince looking for a bride over there.
Said prince is Whitaker (Neal Bledsoe) AKA Whit. And his father, King Coventry (Tom Rooney), wants him to settle down like his brother did. But Whit is holding out for love and worries that being king would mean he would have to give up everything he loves, especially the arts. It’s pretty much your straightforward trope of being a responsible adults means never having fun ever again.
Anyway, Lila and her father meet the royal family, including Whit’s niece Princess Maya (Tessa Kozma). She is staying with her grandfather and uncle while her parents are on some diplomatic trip. So King Coventry wants the Christmas Carousel restored as a gift to her. He appoints Whit to oversee the restoration. Whit and Lila bond over their shared passion for the arts.
In the process, we learn about a special horse on the carousel called the wishing horse. If someone rides that horse and makes a wish on the third rotation, it will come true.
Whit is determined to open a school focused on the arts and Lila helps him set up a festival that used the arts to celebrate Christmas. They work together and slowly start to fall in love. Princess Maya also really likes Lila and it seems she’s on her way to joining the royal family. They also work together to convince one particular noble, Duke Sterling (Michael Spencer-Davis), to let them use one of his castles for the school.
Of course, King Coventry wants his son to marry someone else and to be a serious king. However, the head of the staff, Heidi (Jennifer Vallance), gives Whit some advice and tells him to tell Lila how he really feels about her.
Naturally, he blows it and she assumes he’s telling her he just wants to be her friend so she says they are just friends. This breaks Whit’s heart and he decides to ask his father’s choice, Duke Sterling’s daughter Margaret (Kathryn Davis), to the Christmas ball.
Still, they push on through the art exhibit featuring paintings done by the local children all about Christmas. Whit finally starts taking Heidi’s and Lila’s advice and speaks from his heart, allowing the people to see his true self. King Coventry and Lila have a talk regarding Whit where she also speaks from the heart. Her words seem to have an affect on the king and his heart may have grown three sizes that day.
Okay, maybe not that. But he definitely softened toward his son. More on that in a bit.
The Duke seems impressed by Whit’s and Lila’s work but tells them there’s another person interested in his castle. Whit and Lila decide they need to step it up and make it more personal for the Duke. Whit calls Margaret and asks what her father’s favorite Christmas carol is. She can’t recall much – just that it was very old. Lila and Whit thank her and hope they can find it.
Lila heads to bed for the night as Whit meets up with his father. King Coventry apologizes to Whit and says that his son is ready to be a leader. And he believes Lila is the right person for him. They share a sweet moment.
Unfortunately, Margaret runs into Lila the next day and reveals that she is going to the ball with Whit. This causes a heartbroken Lila to accept to interview for the program position she’s been avoiding the entire movie – unaware that Margaret and Whit meet up and agree that they are really just meant to be friends.
Lila gives Maya a pep talk before she performs and stays long enough to watch most of it. Maya does forget the words but Duke Sterling jumps in and sings with her until the song is over. The ploy works and he agrees to give his castle to Whit for his school. Whit wants to tell Lila but Maya reveals she has left for home already. Margaret believes she knows why and Whit races to stop Lila but is too late.
Whit tries to call Lila but she refuses to answer. Her father gives her some advice that pretty much amounts to “follow your heart.”
Unable to reach Lila, Whit decides to take drastic measures. He goes to the carousel and starts it up, sitting on the wishing horse. As it reaches the third rotation, he wishes that Lila would return to him but she’s still not there when he’s done. He returns to the party, dejected.
But Lila has returned and they confess their feelings for each other. It ends with the reveal of the Christmas Carousel to Maya and with the promise of a happily ever after.
So there it is – a sweet holiday movie that makes you feel all warm on a cold December night.
Is it a bit paint by numbers? Yes, but what Hallmark holiday movie isn’t? And isn’t that why we love them? Because given all the uncertainty in the world and some other shows trying to be “edgy” by throwing shocks at audiences, there’s some comfort in being predictable.
Give it a watch this December – I’m sure it will be on several times through the month. You’ll be able to catch it at least once.
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