Kate, a food photographer, takes her best friend's place at a Belgian culinary school, and it reawakens her passion for creating confections. In the process, she falls for the chocolatier, Mathias, who is leading the class. When Mathias learns Kate's true identity, will her deception halt their budding romance?
Starring: Jaclyn Hales and Zane Stephens
Image: Great American Media
My Movie Grade: D
Where Was A Belgian Chocolate Christmas Filmed?
The movie was shot mostly in Belgium, particularly Brussels, but some scenes were filmed in Los Angeles.
The chocolate making scenes were actually shot at the Laurent Gerbaud Chocolatier store and workshop. Interestingly, Laurent Gerbaud was named Brussels' Chocolatier of the Year in 2021, he runs workshops from his store, and he's also an ice cream maker! Gerbaud is known for creating chocolates that are a little more spicy and fruity than sweet, and we see this flavor experimentation play out in movie scenes, like the hot chocolate tasting at Pieter's café.
A Belgian Chocolate Christmas Boasts Holiday Warmth
A Belgian Chocolate Christmas places a heavy emphasis on family bonds, which is an obvious reflection of Great American Family's core objectives: to create stories that celebrate faith and family.
Mathias inherited L' E'cole Du Chocolate De Bruxelles from his grandfather, and he is struggling to keep the store and chocolatier school afloat. Part of the problem is that he is too focused on keeping his grandfather's vision intact that he neglects to expand the business with his own ideas and original confections.
Kate inspires Mathias to experiment, and the two develop a new praline which is a huge hit with customers. Not only does Mathias continue to honor his grandfather's legacy, he finds a way to make his own mark on the business.
When Kate's best friend and pastry chef, Susan, agrees to import Mathias' chocolates to her US patisserie in lieu of hiring a local chocolatier, the international exposure provides an added boost for his store's long-term success.
With the extra business, Mathias will need to expand his staff. Does Mathias know anyone who would like to return to pastry and chocolate-making and be willing to relocate to Belgium?
Image: Great American Media
A Belgian Chocolate Christmas Uses a Familiar Trope
Why doesn't Kate reveal her true identity to Mathias?
Susan wants to grow her pastry business by adding premium chocolate products. What better place to learn about chocolate-making than Belgium? She enrolls in Mathias' intensive training course, but the Christmas rush at her store makes it impossible for her to leave. Her workshop fees are nonrefundable and nontransferable. Susan convinces Kate to take her place and pretend to be her. Kate records videos and take tons of notes to share with Susan.
As Kate and Mathias grow closer, she wants to tell him the truth about who she really is, but Susan begs her to keep it a secret until Christmas.
When Mathias discovers the deception on his own, he feels their whole relationship has been built on a lie. He claims to not really know who Kate is, but in typical romcom fashion, he comes to his senses and realizes all that the two have shared is real.
A Belgian Chocolate Christmas Is a Flop
A Belgian Chocolate Christmas has all the trappings for an engaging holiday movie, so how does it still manage to bomb?
The acting is horrible. Hales is not a likeable leading lady, her acting skills are deplorable, and her voice is atypical--not smooth as chocolate, but abrasive. Likewise, Stephens doesn't create a strong onscreen presence--he's dull and uninteresting.
When Kate and Susan banter back and forth, the constant smiling and fake exuberance is cringe-worthy.
Image: Great American Media
The chemistry is completely absent. It's clear Hales and Stephens TRY to generate a spark, but they fail miserably.
The romance happens too quickly to be believable. Kate initially comes across as a total flunky--not someone who supposedly owns her own pastry business and is a professional. In real-life, this would be a turn-off to a serious chocolatier like Mathias, not a reason for instant hyper attraction. Most teaching professionals are NOT going to invite students into their lives and homes for the holidays, but rather maintain a polite distance.
The staging looks like the Dollar Store exploded. Chintzy garlands are slapped around door frames with other tacky odds and ends plastered everywhere--certainly not the opulent movie sets we are accustomed to from high-quality Christmas movies.
Great American Family Will Get Better!
Great American Family is running commercials advertising upcoming movies for their 2023 Great American Christmas, which they say will be "high quality." Shouldn't that be a given? To assure viewers that pending movies will be "high quality" is an admission that they know several of their movies have been sub-par.
We must give Great American Family some slack. They are building what all of us want--a channel that reflects faith, family, and love of country, something that seems revolutionary in today's woke entertainment climate. GAF is working hard to restore TV to its original glory.
Viewers have been demanding new movies. More are on the way! To placate fans in the meantime, GAF has premiered some movies, such as A Belgian Chocolate Christmas, that simply don't measure up. If we want quality movies over quantity, we must be patient.
The 2023 slate of new Christmas movies Great American Family is teasing looks very promising and will likely be their best season yet.
A Belgian Chocolate Christmas might be a flop, but you'll want to try flavored gourmet hot chocolate by the end! Image: Great American Media
Definitely agree with your comment
ReplyDelete“ When Kate and Susan banter back and forth, the constant smiling and fake exuberance is cringe-worthy”, as well as most of your critiques. But as I commented to GAF, not my favorite, but I still enjoy watching a movie that I don’t have to be afraid of objectionable content popping up.