Christmas in Paradise Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		2.5

Christmas in Paradise Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 1, 2022

Hey, do you want to know how amazingly clever Christmas in Paradise is? Well, of course you do, and who am I not to tell you? Well, get ready, because Christmas is the surname of the focal family of this piece, so, you know, "Christmas" in Paradise, get it? Which then may beg the question, since there is a focal family of this piece, as to why the title isn't Christmases in Paradise, but I digress while also suddenly questioning just how clever this DTV offering is. (Hint: it isn't.) Kelsey Grammer evidently got a nice vacation on the little known island of Nevin in the Caribbean, along with co-stars Elizabeth Hurley, Nathalie Cox, Naomi Frederick, and just for good camptastic casting, Billy Ray Cyrus. Mr. Cyrus gets to offer us a "new, improved" (?) "Caribbean style" (as the subtitles hilariously describe it) version of his iconic philosophical treatise Achy Breaky Heart , replete with synthesized steel drum and Kelsey Grammer supposedly on bongo. If that isn't enough to recommend this piece, Christmas in Paradise may simply not be the right slice of holiday hokum for you.

Joanna (Elizabeth Hurley), Caroline (Nathalie Cox) and Paulina (Naomi Frederick) are sisters and convene an "emergency sisters' meeting" after their father James (Kelsey Grammer) mysteriously leaves his longtime girlfriend and goes incommunicado on a Caribbean island. Suffice it to say, Christmas in Paradise at least cuts to the chase by getting the siblings to Nevin to confront dear old Dad within just a few minutes, but things are of course not exactly as they may seem. Without posting any spoilers, let's just say that James has his own reasons to be doing what he's doing, and if Joanna is the first to find out, it doesn't take long for the news to spread elsewhere.

This is a frankly kind of weird effort that obviously wants to be heartwarming and yet is unavoidably melancholic as to its context and in fact why James has withdrawn. The comedy here, such as it is, is pretty broad but there are actually a couple of touching scenes between Hurley and Grammer in particular. Some completely gonzo sidebars involving Cyrus and a potential love interest for one of the sisters go largely nowhere, though Cyrus gets to sing more than his signature tune.

Christmas in Paradise Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Christmas in Paradise is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. Unsurprisingly, there's little to no technical information on this shoot that I could dredge up anywhere. This is a competent digital capture that I'm assuming was finished at a 2K DI. The outdoor material is probably unsurprisingly the sharpest and best detailed, with the most securely suffused palette, and there are a number of rather nice establishing shots that help to set the tropical mood. Some of the interior stuff seems kind of oddly skewed toward yellow or even orange for no apparent reason. This is another recent Lionsgate release with some minor but noticeable banding in the boot up masthead, but no real problems in the actual feature.

Christmas in Paradise Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Christmas in Paradise features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that is not overly ambitious in terms of sound design, but which does manage to achieve some modest immersion in some of the many outdoor scenes, and in the interstitial performances by Billy Ray Cyrus. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English, French, Spanish and Portuguese subtitles are available.

Christmas in Paradise Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer (HD; 2:39)

Additionally, a digital copy is included.

Christmas in Paradise Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Christmas in Paradise is exactly the sort of holiday themed fare that often turns up on niche cable enterprises like Lifetime, and in that regard, it's only slightly hilarious that there was a Lifetime movie called Christmas in Paradise which evidently came out in 2007. Fans of the cast will probably find this an okay if ultimately not very memorable time killer, and technical merits are generally solid for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.