Christmas Inheritance follows the ambitious and wealthy Ellen Langford. Ellen is about to inherit her father’s gift business once she has learned what being selfless really means.
Ellen (Eliza Taylor) must deliver a special Christmas card to a family friend. If successful, she will become heiress to the multi-million dollar company Home and Hearth. This involves taking the poor man’s trip to the small northern town of her dad’s home. There she must visit the company’s co-founder Uncle Zeke (Anthony Sherwood).
Being separated from daddy’s credit cards proves to be a huge challenge for the rich socialite. As does putting her embarrassing antics to one side for the greater good. Not to mention surviving on one hundred dollars!
Ellen must also keep the secret about her involvement with the company. This creates even more challenges, especially when she meets the inn manager Jake (Jake Lacey from How to Be Single). He is nursing a broken heart caused by his two timing wife. With her self-seeking, mercenary boyfriend, Gray (Michael Xavier) arriving unannounced and needing her back for his important work party, will Ellen abandon him for the true spirit of Christmas in the hometown she never knew?
Watching Ellen’s unfamiliarity with public transport and the temporary removal of room service from her pampered life, give us some of the film’s lighter moments. The overall message comparing the values of the big town folk to the small-town ones is pretty clear and we get to see the charitable qualities that Christmas can bring out of us.
With a bit of romance thrown in for good measure, similar to Christmas With A View and A Castle for Christmas, and a cast including Andie McDowall as Jake’s down-to-earth Aunt Debbie, the real human side of Christmas is discovered in this festive feature. The characters are generally likeable (apart from the abhorrent Jake), the decorations beautiful and I’d say it’s a pretty decent watch with the kids on Christmas Eve.
Other films in the genre that are a decent watch include You Can't Fight Christmas, Once Upon A Holiday and for a show try Merry Happy Whatever.
