Wishin' and Hopin'

To say I was pleasantly surprised by Wally Lamb's WISHIN' & HOPIN' would be a huge understatement. This movie is a total joy! As a male, the "Lifetime" label usually turns me off, but WISHIN' & HOPIN' elevates that label to new heights. Baited by the star names of Molly Ringwald, Chevy Chase and Annabella Sciorra, I was happily surprised to find out that the real stars of this delightful holiday yarn are the cast of mostly unknown child actors, who's obvious off screen summer camp chemistry spectacularly shines on screen. Wyatt Ralff as the lead Felix is an adorable charmer who's fresh faced innocence reminds me of other young stars in their heyday, Macauley Culkin in HOME ALONE and Peter Billingsley as Ralphie in A Christmas STORY. Quinn McColgan plays Felix's nemesis Rosalie with sassy conviction effortlessly carrying the film's conflict to outrageous heights. Then there's the new Russian student Zhenya played by Siobhan Cohen with confident playful glee. Felix's best friend Lonny is played with a Corey Feldman-in-his-GOONIES-glory-days zeal by the charming Shawn Ervin. I could just go on about the rest of the young cast, but you might as well just see for your self. Mark my words, in 20 years people will be watching WISHIN' & HOPIN' and saying they can't believe all of these A-listers got their start in this fabulous little film. WISHIN' & HOPIN" is a joyous laugh-out-loud treat to behold. You might as well start the family tradition this year, because there's no doubt this film will be a staple of the holiday season for years to come. A classic is born. ELF, A Christmas STORY, A MIRACLE ON 34th STREET, A Christmas CAROL and IT"S A WONDERFUL LIFE have new company to augment their ranks of holiday greats and so do we. Enjoy!

Wonderful film to capture the spirit of the season and the feel of the times - well crafted, insightful story line about the inner lives of children delivered through the eyes and hearts of the kids. Even the parents are largely portrayed as how kids might see them. Of course Wally Lamb's book is a powerful inspiration but the acting, directing and every aspect of the film really does the book justice. Lamb has an amazing ability to get inside the heads of his characters and this film doesn't disappoint. Great fun - will help your kids understand how we baby boomers grew up! Loved the precise phrases of verbal kid disdain, "I know you are, but what am I?" Don't miss it.

So good to finally see a movie that made me laugh-out-loud. It brought back so many wonderful memories of growing up in the early 60's!! The cast, which is mostly kids, did an outstanding job. I could see myself, and so many of my classmates in their characters. No detail was left out.I could not believe they put bells on their shoes, something I did as a young girl during the Christmas season. I felt like I was reliving every Christmas production I had been in, including the mishaps. Thanks to Wally Lamb, Cast, and Everyone involved, for bringing this story to life.

I was fortunate to be able to attend the Premiere in New London, Connecticut and now I am looking forward to seeing it on the Lifetime Channel. This film will be one of those Christmas Classics that we watch with our families every year .

A very loving Christmas story, well directed and played by a fine cast. The lead character is especially enjoyable, as such a story demands, and there is not the usual Hollywood overplay on bad versus good characters. Everyone has their own personality as people do, neither dastardly nor saintly, just people/kids. My wife and her sister watched it with me, we are TCM and movie fans in general. All three of us thoroughly enjoyed the movie. I did, by the way, experience many Catholic Christmas school plays as a child. Our parish priest was not a heavy drinker, he smoked a cigar, some of the nuns were certainly way out there, and the kids mostly looked at the old round clock waiting for 3pm. Lay teachers were uncommon but I had one in 4th grade, not as colorful as Molly Ringwald, but just as devoted.

When my family sat down to watch this movie, we were unaware that it is a 'Christmas' movie. We watched it half way through the year, but that didn't affect our enjoyment of it.

There is nothing bad about this movie. It is a perfectly fine little family movie, but there is nothing really special about it either. The plot has its share of charming moments and a lot that you have seen before in other similar movies. The acting is good, particularly from the kids in this. Wyatt Ralff is particularly appealing as the protagonist, Felix. Some of the adults seem miscast though. Conchatta Ferrell is the supposedly strict and mean nun, but her character seemed quite pleasant to me. Molly RIngwald seems an odd choice to play a French Canadian substitute teacher who speaks in a French accent that Miss Ringwald sometimes has trouble maintaining for whole sentences. She also speaks to her class in French for some reason. This is one movie featuring Chevy Chase where I didn't find him overbearing and annoying. That's mainly because we don't actually see him; he just provides a voice-over. He should do more of this type of thing instead of appearing in front of the camera where his appeal is a complete and continuing mystery to me.

I happily recommend this movie as a good 90 odd minutes of screen time for your family, Your kids won't be bored and neither will you. You just won't remember it for long. Some reviewers have suggested that this movie will become a Christmas classic. Personally, I can't see it, but who knows? There are a lot worse movies than this that turn up every holiday season.