My Norwegian Holiday

Have you heard about the Norwegian farmer who loved his wife so much, he almost told her?

I am loving Hallmark doing some more immersive storylines within other cultures. This film adds a clever meeting and trip into the storyline which was very enjoyable. As a fellow Dutchwoman, I loved seeing both David Elsendoorn and Peter Vollebregt playing the father and son Henrik and Johan Strom. I thought they and the rest of the cast did a remarkably believable job with the Norwegian accents and pronunciations.

I loved seeing the very real city of Bergen, seeing and hearing about Norwegian Christmas customs like St. Lucia celebrations, the food, the knitting, the singing around the tree...and traditional costume. I also appreciated the conversation about the American use of the word love and the sharing of the two duvets...which I already knew about and agree with whole heartedly.

I liked the tie in to a personal journey and not making the story too complex. I thought Rhiannon Fish was great as JJ and she had wonderful chemistry with David Elsendoorn. The sibling interaction and teasing was just the right note between Henrik and Nora. It was really fun to see a wedding as well as Christmas since there are lots of traditions around weddings around the world...including the dresses.

I really loved this one, it had humor, cultural sharing and family. I recommend this to anyone who wants a heartfelt holiday film this season. This is definitely competing for the best Hallmark Holiday film of 2023...I think it just might edge out the Heidelberg Holiday, which is also very good. Cheers, Hallmark. I really thought you were done for, but movies like these are breathing new life into your network. Well done.

I read about this movie in a Norwegian newspaper while they were filming in Bergen, and got my hopes up because I thought they would do Norway right. They did not! The Christmas traditions is accurate, but why would they not use a single Norwegian actor when they were filming here? Everyone who was supposed to be Norwegian sounded German, their pronunciations were so bad it was very cringe to watch. The houses looked nothing like Norwegian houses, on the outside or inside. And finally it was less Christmasy than I would have thought and hoped, seeing as we usually have lots and lots of snow during Christmas. Should have been filmed during Christmas for real, and released next year instead. But as a Hallmark movie, the plot was good, and not as cliche as normal.

First off - yes, this was a Hallmark Christmas movie but there were absolutely zero typical Halmarkisms here. If I were playing the Hallmark drinking game I would have lost (or stayed sober) as no cliche scenes or moments were put into the film.

The cast, all of them, were great and worked well together. Also, having Bergen as the location added quite a bit. Often, these movies filmed abroad work better than their USA-Canada counterparts. Not sure why, but they just seem fresher.

This was a quality production from start to end and kudos to the acting and production talent. Oh, and this is a biggie - this was rare Hallmark movie which actually wrapped up the story for all characters and we weren't left hanging and wondering how things would work out. Nicely done.

Set in Norway, but not with a Norwegian cast. This is the first Rhiannon Fish film I've seen where she's not annoying, the Australian actress does a fairly good job. Her co-lead is the Dutch actor David Elsendoorn who played Jan Maas in the series "Ted Lasso", he's always good.

This is again another movie that thankfully doesn't have a female lead who owns her own business usually interior design, dressmaker or other similar occupation or she's up for a lifechanging job promotion or she developed a dating or other stupid app. The script wasn't bad, but not the best Hallmark movie I've seen. The location was nice, in Bergen, Norway.

I love how half the population of Norway has submitted low reviews about this movie. I would also be annoyed if I was Norwegian, but my review is going to rate the actual movie since I have no idea how authentic the Norwegian content is.

I liked the production value. The settings were nice, the feel was right, and it was unique enough to merit watching. I also really liked Rhiannon Fish's character. She had quirks to make her relatable but not so many quirks as to be annoying. I was neutral on her before this movie, but she is the best part of this one and now I'm a fan.

If I had to crticize the movie, I would say the setup for the plot was ridiculous. Rhiannon's character was WAY too trusting after this random dude tracked her down at her workplace (in a school, no less) and showed up to see her. That's when you call for help, not decide to travel with him to Norway. Then when she mentioned she should Google him, he begged her not to. Not alarming at all!