A Miracle on Christmas Lake

Will Bobby miraculously learn to love Christmas? Will he save the lake? Will he leave town? Will his family have to move?

If you're looking for an inspiring movie with a positive message, this may not be it. If you're looking for a family movie, this isn't that either. Plenty of curse words have been bleeped out in the version I saw--though Sarah looks foolish criticizing Bobby's for cursing around his sister after some tamer words are substituted. And Roxy imitates him and also gets yelled at.

This movie eventually gets where it is going but takes a long route to get there. And then runs off the road into a ditch.

Aside from one of Bobby's mysterious visits which suggest something about life after death which is not consistent with the Christian faith, this movie has little in the way of spiritual messages. The change in tone toward the end is at least inspiring but not the "miracle" some movies like this have. At least it's not predictable.

The biggest positive quality of the movie, and maybe the one reason to watch, is Siobhan Williams as Karen, who is such a great character and so nice. She sees something in Bobby that apparently we don't, because there's not much to like about Bobby. Although we are supposed to hope he gets what he wants.

Other that Williams and Will Sasso as a terrible Santa, the acting here is mostly on the level of people sitting around a table reading the script for the first time. Even the mysterious characters don't really impress. Jeremy is a particularly unlikable character until the end.

If you enjoy this movie, that's the true miracle.

The scenery was awesome, and that's all this movie has going for it. The teenager spent the first 2 hours scowling and accusing and demanding answers for the Big Mystery. Finally Mom reveals the answer to the Big Mystery. Yawn. Then he spends the last 30 minutes smiling sappily. Somehow he equates real estate development with the spirit of Christmas. What? I was rather hoping Angry Teenager would fall through the ice and end the movie early.

As some others have said, this could have been good, but slow pacing, lack of crisp writing and an ending that simply is stupid killed it.

Do not go by the DVD cover. This is NOT a cheery and happy Christmastime movie. That is both unusual and a good thing as it anchors this festive tale in a more realistic universe and reality.

The main character, Bobby Whiteside has the weight of a few troubles on his back. The death of his friend the year before, his father leaving home, and an uneasy home life where he constantly argues with his mother and brother.

Feeling that the world is against him he wants to leave the township where all his torments fester forsaking his family, even his sister Roxie, who is the only family member he has a decent relationship with.

This is his story of revelation and change.

The story is tight and the magical and fantastical elements of the tale are handled really well. Another great thing about the movie is the director, Jack Kissack, decided to not make it bright and glossy but keep it darker and bleaker as the story dictated. The acting is top notch and the realistic ending doesn't detract in any way from the meaning of this modern fable.

This is one of the better Christmas movies around, but don't watch it if you're looking for a happy feeling.

It wasn't great but something different in a Christmas movie market saturated with cookie cutter plots.

I never expect a lot from the Christmas movie industry. I don't mind seeing one that deals with pain and grief and doesn't have someone falling in love after their spouse died 10 months ago. My biggest complaint was Santa's eyebrows and the mall Santa would never cut it in real life. Lol. I watch a lot of Christmas movies and don't make it past 20 minutes on many of them but I finished this one. I do strongly agree with some reviewers that this movie had the potential to be much better. Only watch this If you are a Christmas movie fan or a hockey fan with daddy issues.