The 2020 Lifetime Christmas efforts did vary and generally veered between mediocre and slightly above average and were indicative at times of rushed productions. But there were enough of them that were still watchable and more (was pleasantly surprised by some) and were not amateur efforts. Actually think on reflection that the standard was of better quality than 2019's batch, which had quite a lot of misfires. Will admit to not expecting a huge amount from this for some reason.

'Christmas in the Highlands' though is one of the misfires and one of the worst 2020 Lifetime films along with 'A Crafty Christmas Romance' and 'The Christmas Listing'. There were a few good things, not massive though, that are sadly outweighed by the flaws, with the worst flaws being absolutely terrible. Is it among the worst that they ever did? Not quite, but it is one of the closest the 2020 output got to being on the same level as the worst of Lifetime's 2019 Christmas output, which is really not a good sign.

As said, 'Christmas in the Highlands' has a few halfway decent things. The scenery is absolutely beautiful.

Did think too that not all the performances were bad. Dan Jeanotte has an easy going subtle charm about him and Nicholas Farrell makes much of little.

However, the rest of the acting is very bad to awful. Particularly Brooke Burfitt, whose performance is stiff and lifeless throughout. There is absolutely no chemistry between her and Jeanotte as well, no spark at all and it was like they didn't like each other very much or playing it too safe. None of the characters are developed well, little more than typical Lifetime cliches, and generate little personality on the whole. Do also have to agree about the distractingly bad accents that have no authenticity at all. The central romantic relationship goes nowhere most of the time and then becomes rushed very late in up to the predictable and too neat final quarter.

Other than the scenery, 'Christmas in the Highlands' doesn't even look good, with shaky rushed looking photography and too dim lighting. The music is forgettable at best. The script is truly awkward and very stilted in a verbose way. Almost like a hastily written first draft not checked through. The story never grabbed me with a very dull first half, which felt slow, over-stretched and uneventful. When it picks up marginally too late, it's very contrived and the whole film has no warmth or charm, no nothing. The direction is routine at best and is often disorganised and hesitant.

Bottom line, not good at all. 3/10.

The opening 2 minutes alone has some of the worst dialogue and acting I have seen in ages. But then the best is yet to come, we go to a Scottish Castle where we meet a Scottish Earl, but not with a Scottish accent, but a really bad aristocratic English accent; it makes Keanu Reeves' attempt at an English accent in Dracula look Oscar worthy. Do not even attempt to watch this rubbish.

Why do so many of these movies have to have a boss or a client that is made into a ridiculous caricature?

I would expect a sales manager to be a people person, one who knows how to win people over with at least the appearance of a charming personality. Here we have a woman who typifies what gives Americans a bad name. Arrogant and condescending. Then she thinks that deceit is the best approach to win over the person who has what she needs.

This movie includes some of the same flavor as the "royal" movies even though the king is really only a duke. This means a scene to embarrass the commoner and a rival with aristocratic blood. The scheming gets a little more involved than in some "royal" movies. It was so blatant that I wondered if there wasn't a bit of parody going on.

The acting is subpar. Many of the actors seemed to be trying too hard and they lines were "delivered" rather than coming out naturally. Dan Jeannotte was a little better than Brooke Burfitt. I never warmed to Burfitt and I didn't think they had much chemistry.

The scheming and deception produce an interesting climax but with familiar elements. Some of them are clumsy and poorly executed.

There are a few funny moments. There are also some silly moments that aren't particularly funny.