I kind of sort of liked it. It's a film that has been done before but maybe it had some new things which were interesting. Kind of funny in spots. A film that's not for everyone but it was alright if I give my honest assessment.
8 Reviews
Okay
beabookworm-437428 August 2020
Warning: Spoilers
The acting in the movie wasn't so bad, but the plot was a bit cliche. Each of the characters felt like a off brand version of the characters in the Clue game, (spoilers) down to the point were the murder weapon was a candlestick. There was a couple of plot holes, and the ending seemed a little bit unresolved. Still decent enough for a family night though.
Decent mystery but not much to do with Christmas
Jackbv1234 January 2019
The only thing about Christmas is when this is happening and when mom died 5 years ago. Also, there really isn't a romance here.
Granddad likes creepy games and this one fits that. This game is in honor of his dead daughter, Claire's mother. There are some interesting twists. Perhaps I should have guessed the outcome, but I didn't. The clues needed context which came as the movie progressed.
Claire is a saint, apparently with no flaws, granddad's favorite. (That's fine with me because Jennifer Finnigan is a favorite of mine.) Just about everyone else has a skeleton in their closet . Some are revealed early and others late in the game.
True, there are some glaring plot holes like that the best raw detective handling evidence and putting fingerprints all over it, but perhaps the thinking was that the family would never let the police investigate. Or the same person wandering around alone and unarmed knowing there was something very dangerous going on. There are some other flaws like that also.
Still, I liked this a lot better than many of the other amateur detective movie series. Hallmark M&M should give Finnagan more like this even though I'm pretty sure this isn't Hallmark.
Granddad likes creepy games and this one fits that. This game is in honor of his dead daughter, Claire's mother. There are some interesting twists. Perhaps I should have guessed the outcome, but I didn't. The clues needed context which came as the movie progressed.
Claire is a saint, apparently with no flaws, granddad's favorite. (That's fine with me because Jennifer Finnigan is a favorite of mine.) Just about everyone else has a skeleton in their closet . Some are revealed early and others late in the game.
True, there are some glaring plot holes like that the best raw detective handling evidence and putting fingerprints all over it, but perhaps the thinking was that the family would never let the police investigate. Or the same person wandering around alone and unarmed knowing there was something very dangerous going on. There are some other flaws like that also.
Still, I liked this a lot better than many of the other amateur detective movie series. Hallmark M&M should give Finnagan more like this even though I'm pretty sure this isn't Hallmark.
Unintentionally Hi-LAR-ious
cpoet20 February 2013
Warning: Spoilers
If you're in the right frame of mind, this movie can be quite enjoyable.
Obviously made for television with commercial breaks, it's funny when the music soars and the scene fades out at regular "peak" moments, only to resume two seconds later with everyone frozen in position. "Action!"
The characters are classic: the clever good girl, the tramp, the manipulative patriarch (in an ascot, no less,) the tipsy aunt, the mysterious foreigner, the taciturn hardbody with a past.
From the very beginning, you anticipate an Agatha Christie knockoff where the characters will perish one after another, but this is only "Ten Little Indians" if one of those snowbound characters had been adept at CPR and Heimlich and the victims simply required a Tylenol.
Finally, test your screen writing skills by trying to say the next line before the characters. You are correct, Sir!
This movie is fun, if you're in the proper mood. Consider a double bill with Charles Bronson in "White Buffalo."
Obviously made for television with commercial breaks, it's funny when the music soars and the scene fades out at regular "peak" moments, only to resume two seconds later with everyone frozen in position. "Action!"
The characters are classic: the clever good girl, the tramp, the manipulative patriarch (in an ascot, no less,) the tipsy aunt, the mysterious foreigner, the taciturn hardbody with a past.
From the very beginning, you anticipate an Agatha Christie knockoff where the characters will perish one after another, but this is only "Ten Little Indians" if one of those snowbound characters had been adept at CPR and Heimlich and the victims simply required a Tylenol.
Finally, test your screen writing skills by trying to say the next line before the characters. You are correct, Sir!
This movie is fun, if you're in the proper mood. Consider a double bill with Charles Bronson in "White Buffalo."
Christmas and a murder
caveb-9909627 July 2020
There's always a cabin in the woods in every hokey TV suspense flick - and this one has 5!
slewfoot-9785313 November 2017
Warning: Spoilers
You look at the description on cable and you think OK it's Canadian, I've never heard of any of the actors and it's a TV movie with a highly implausible plot. But I'm tired and I have a couple of hours to kill so why not?
What happens next is a couple of hours of the most pointless meandering movie making ever put on film. How these writers (if they had any) actors and director could actually feel good about being paid for this is beyond me. It's as though they just started filming random scenes and after about a week the director yelled "We've just enough footage, we've chewed through our tiny budget so that's a wrap! We'll edit in a plot later."
The only real twist is that nothing happens...at all until the final happy scene where one and all drink a joyful Christmas toast to their drunken auntie who has just admitted that she murdered their mother five years earlier?
Merry Christmas.
What happens next is a couple of hours of the most pointless meandering movie making ever put on film. How these writers (if they had any) actors and director could actually feel good about being paid for this is beyond me. It's as though they just started filming random scenes and after about a week the director yelled "We've just enough footage, we've chewed through our tiny budget so that's a wrap! We'll edit in a plot later."
The only real twist is that nothing happens...at all until the final happy scene where one and all drink a joyful Christmas toast to their drunken auntie who has just admitted that she murdered their mother five years earlier?
Merry Christmas.
90 mins of my life I won't get back
davholsea-990023 December 2019
Who the hell gave this a rating of 5.5?
I had high hopes for the "Ten Little Indians" format, but what we ended up with was a few "clues" leading to nowhere and a "plot" that wrapped itself up in knots and resolved itself with an unexpected (and completely inexplicable) confession.
Absolutely awful movie.
Don't get sucked in by the inflated rating.
Utterly Devoid of anything pleasurable
caiged15 December 2011
This is hands down the worst TV movie I have ever seen and it's bad even for TV movie standards. There is absolutely nothing good that comes from watching this movie.
The plot's supposed to be a mystery, but the only mystery that viewers need to solve is how a bad story can see the light of TV day! The story follows a cantankerous old man who gathers his family on an island, the scene of his daughter's death five years ago. Dear old Daddy is fond of making his family play out some weird Christmas puzzle game. He decides to bequeath his wealth to the person who can solve the puzzle and this kicks off the movie.
Each character representing the extended family has a slight checkered history, all apart from the nice girl next door, goody two shoes, puzzle expert grand daughter. Sadly, there is nothing interesting about any of the characters, all of whom are absorbed in themselves. What makes things worse is that once the puzzle game starts no one does anything. Instead the characters sit around, either moping, drinking themselves into a stupor or trying to have sex on the kitchen top. The mystery is finally solved by some inane bumbling and blind luck and is not even worth revealing.
Aside from the super poor plot, the acting is way below par. No one makes an effort to rise above the story and no one character really tries to take the center stage, even the Nancy Drew wannabe granddaughter.
This is a definite ignore, unless you happen to know of the cast members other roles and are big fans.
The plot's supposed to be a mystery, but the only mystery that viewers need to solve is how a bad story can see the light of TV day! The story follows a cantankerous old man who gathers his family on an island, the scene of his daughter's death five years ago. Dear old Daddy is fond of making his family play out some weird Christmas puzzle game. He decides to bequeath his wealth to the person who can solve the puzzle and this kicks off the movie.
Each character representing the extended family has a slight checkered history, all apart from the nice girl next door, goody two shoes, puzzle expert grand daughter. Sadly, there is nothing interesting about any of the characters, all of whom are absorbed in themselves. What makes things worse is that once the puzzle game starts no one does anything. Instead the characters sit around, either moping, drinking themselves into a stupor or trying to have sex on the kitchen top. The mystery is finally solved by some inane bumbling and blind luck and is not even worth revealing.
Aside from the super poor plot, the acting is way below par. No one makes an effort to rise above the story and no one character really tries to take the center stage, even the Nancy Drew wannabe granddaughter.
This is a definite ignore, unless you happen to know of the cast members other roles and are big fans.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
