The Christmas Shoes

I saw the first 5 minutes, realized it was another horrible made-for-TV Christmas movie and left the room to tend to other things while my wife watched it. I then watched the last 15 minutes (albeit not intentionally). What little I saw was bad. I mean really bad. So bad that my wife kept yelling at me to stop my MST3K routine while watching it.

Before watching this movie, I was aware of the great song but not aware that the movie was based on a book.

I thought the movie was OK for a TV movie and the acting only average (although Hugh Thompson and Max Morrow stood out for me) so why the 7 star rating? Gosh darn it, sometimes there's a movie out there that comes along that just gets to me emotionally and reaching for the tissue box. It's very rare for a guy like me that doesn't shed a lot of tears but this is one of those movies. It offers up to us just what is important in life and we should all be aware of that message. Parental guidance recommended for those with small children.

By the title and movie description, I thought I was in for two hours of a sweet heartwarming Christmas story. I was close. While this film is a heartwarming one, it's also quite tragic. The only thing missing was a warning about how sad and depressing some parts in the movie are. Kimberly Williams gives a stellar performance, and Max Morrow and Amber Marshall are perfect for the roles of the cute kids, much needed for the story. Although Rob Lowe was disappointing for the first time, in my opinion, I think this movie is a great one for families to see together. I think that there are many tough issues addressed in "The Christmas Shoes," giving parents an easy opening to talk to their kids about some of the harder things in life. This movie is realistic. Normally, it's easy to laugh at so-called "sad" movies, because in the end, everyone's happy, all ends well, and they do live happily ever after. Movie characters! But this film has a real-life feel to it. It's sweet, bitterly sad, heartwarming, and family-oriented. Definitely see this the next time it's on TV!

I loved this movie. The song put me to tears, but the movie was even better. I just wish that they would show it on TV again. Seems like after the first year, this was a forgotten movie. Almost like Mr. McGreggors Christmas. Once you saw it, you wanted to see it again, but it was never played again. If I could get anyone to play this movie, I would try my best to do so. There are not enough good Christmas movies out there these days. Some of the one's they are making are stupid. Why can't we put the meaning of Christmas back in movies. Like It's A wonderful life, or Miracle on 34th street, or White Christmas. We need more decent Christmas movies.

Rob Lowe plays a lawyer who is so obsessed with work that he misses a school concert where his daughter has a solo. He is also having problems with his marriage. Kimberly Williams is the volunteer choral director who finds out she has a fatal condition requiring a heart transplant for a cure to take place. Two families cross paths in a number of instances. Lowe's wife takes over for Williams, canceling an important job interview her husband worked hard to arrange. Williams' husband is the mechanic who ends up working on Lowe's car. Later in the movie, Williams' son, fearing his mother will be having her last Christmas, seeks to buy Williams a pair of special shoes which Lowe earlier found lying in the street, mysteriously intended to be delivered to a department store which did not order them. Lowe gets the shoes to the store (eventually) and later plays a role in helping the boy buy the shoes. The boy's teacher rents a room from Lowe's mother, who we know will probably die during the movie, since Lowe is visiting her grave at the movie's start, 15 years after her death. The boy faces numerous obstacles in his quest for the shoes, and while miracles do happen in the movie, not everything comes out the way you would hope.