Licht der Hoffnung

The story centers around four main characters a vet and his wife, and his returning childhood friend and her son.

After leaving 13 years ago without warning Dee-Dee, a free spirit who ran off with another boy, returns to her childhood home. She brings he son along, hoping to find magic in the community of her youth.

Dee Dee's life how ever intersects with the local vet, who used to be her childhood best friend, and his wife. At first their is hurt feeling, because Dee-Dee ran away 13 years ago, on the same night the vet was to give her his class ring. Soon the vet has other problems and he realizes no amount of planning can protect those he loves from bad things.

The vet's wife(also a veterinarian) is at first jealous of the reaction of her husband, since the return of this old friend, but worries are soon put to rest when she too finds magic in the personality of the candle making Dee-Dee.

Soon Dee-Dee's son begins to work with the veterinarians and finds a love of animals. He becomes closer to the couple, which may be for the best, because his mother has a secret...

Soon the magic of a community is needed to help this returning family. *****************************************************************

I expected more twists then I got in this movie, but I will say the story had heart and was well acted. I thought the lesson of how we all need each other as friends, as "family", as a community was nicely told. A Hallmark quality tear jerker...

It is easy to see why movies made for television, as it is the case with this one, end up being shown on cable as though they were regular feature films that had, at one time, or another, been shown in theaters. The Hallmark people always enjoy in the kind of sentimentality which "Candles on Bay Street" displays. It is not, by any means a horrible movie, but it goes with the territory to expect some sort of terrible tragedy, or something "cute" in which viewers can identify with the characters in the stories presented as part of the Hallmark series.

Thus, "Candles on Bay Street" has its share of joy and tears. As directed by John Erman, it shows a well crafted product with the right ingredients that will either make the viewer love it, or just, as some comments to this site indicate, hate it. First of all, the location in Nova Scotia is too beautiful and cinematic for words. The quaint little town where the action takes place is one of dream places we know exist, but most of us never get to experience first hand.

Alicia Silverstone takes a turn to a more dramatic role than she has been asked to play. The excellent Annabeth Gish, has nothing to do with a role that will add nothing to her career. Eion Bailey is the man that was taken for granted by returning Dee Dee and comes to terms with what happened in his life. Veterans Polly Bergen and James Rebhorn are asked to help do what they do best. Young Matthew Knight is the cute element in the movie, tears and all.

Hollywood. Populated by a thousand good actors and actresses. Alicia Silverstone has a bit of soul that must give her a bit of specialness. Her portrayal of a dying candle maker with only concern for her son is not in the least bit sugary. This gorgeous woman went out on limb in this this good film, and by the way, kudos to the other members of the cast. Think about it. You could go for the normal glamor jazz but you decide to define your self as an actress. If you look at her work, especially in the Crush and in the Babysitter you can perceive that this is is a very good actress. I believe that this young lady is in the class of Bette Davis.

Embarrassingly amateurish, despite good actors cast in the film. Therefore, I "watched" while working at the computer since it's a decent enough family holiday film. A pleasure to see Polly Bergen again. She is a class act and enhances any film in which she is featured. Alicia Silverstone is a decent actor, but not that great in this role. Her dramatic range isn't all that great. She's more of a comedic actor. She kept smiling too much, especially in scenes that didn't call for it. Annabeth Gish was quite good (would have been a better choice for the lead), as was Eion Bailey but their dialog, along with the rest of the dialog in the movie, was very poorly written and scene transitions were embarrassingly hokey. I did like Alicia's scenes at the end with her young son. Thoughtfully written, and probably the only truly decent dialog in the movie.

The location shots were beautiful, filmed in Nova Scotia. Definitely worth noting is the young actor, Matthew Knight, who was one of the best actors in the film, esp. his solo scene at the very end of the movie. He's going places.

I didn't read any reviews before watching this movie. I'm not sure if I would've watched it if I did. This is not a typical every day Hallmark movie, even though it's in the Hallmark Hall of Fame. I think it was very well done and it really does have a happy ending. Of course a half empty glass people won't think so. It's not for everyone but I'm glad I watched it.