Movie Review: Love in a Cold Climate

 Why You're Watching This:

• You're a costume drama fan.
• You like a good story.

What's the Story?:


I was excited to get a chance to review "Love in a Cold Climate", a British mini-series, brought to American audiences from Acorn Media.

"Love in a Cold Climate," is based on books by Nancy Mitford. It is the story of a British family in through the early to mid part of the 1900s. It focuses on practical Fanny who seems to have her head and heart in the right place. There's Polly who seems to end up in less than an ideal situation. Then there's Linda, who follows her heart from one place to another much to the chagrin of her family, who seems to be worried about appearances. Oh, and it also stars the incomparable Dame Judi Dench as the matriarch of the family, which makes this series just that much more awesome!

There are 8 episodes in the series. They start when Polly, Linda, and Fanny are very young and continue up until the second world war. This means that the series covers a lot of ground. Each episode builds on the episodes before.

My Two Cents:

I really, really loved this series! I think that people who really like historical fiction will enjoy this series. It is a great story with some good historical detail about what life was like for (wealthy) people during those decades in England. Although the focus of the mini-series is really on the characters in the series, there is a heavy dose of the historical. The events of the time weave in and out of the lives of the characters.

I loved the characters in the series. Linda and Fanny were probably my favorites. Fanny reminds me a lot of myself. She's kind and always seems to be willing to help out everyone else in her family. She also has the most compelling background. Her mother is absent from her life and seems to be content to run all over the place while not giving Fanny the time of day. Fanny goes to live with her cousin's family where she is acutely aware of the differences between her and gorgeous Linda. I really felt for her throughout the series.

As I mentioned, I also really liked Linda. Linda is just a total wild card. She's one of those characters where you don't totally understand why she does what she does but you have a lot of fun seeing what she does next. She hops from one place to another and almost seems to come a little bit before her time. I loved how free spirited she was!

And as far as the the mark of any good costume drama goes, the costumes were great. I especially liked some of the clothing that Linda wore while she was in Paris. Sigh, so gorgeous!

Bottom line: This is a great mini-series for people who love  great characters and a little bit of historical fiction!