One Christmas

I can't really enjoy a film if I do not care for the main character. This one is a bratty little kid named Buddy who gets sent to live with his father during the Depression-era Christmas season. Buddy had previously been living with some older-by-about-60-years cousin(the only character I kind of liked) due to the fact that his father is basically a scheming criminal. The father(Henry Winkler) pretends to be some great success for Buddy, but Buddy doesn't really buy it and neither does the rest of the town, which looks down on the dad. Although the father makes an enormous effort with Buddy, Buddy the monster never really accepts his father or his new living situation. This means Buddy yells, complains and has outbursts similar to annoying Kevin Arnold's at the end of a Wonder Years episode. Instead of people yelling at Buddy and teaching him to appreciate his life, constant praise is heaped upon him and it is clear that Buddy is supposed to be some wonderful, charming child. I didn't buy it and did not appreciate being subjected to the little brat! (for the record, the rest of the film is disinteresting, slow-moving and not worth investing one's time in)

One Christmas was an autobiographical short story written by Truman Capote. Buddy, in the story, is Capote. Capote's father was actually a scam artist who spent time in prison. This story along with "A Christmas Memory" and "The Thanksgiving Visitor" make a wonderful trilogy. This movie doesn't do justice to Capote's beautiful, bittersweet prose, but might be worth seeing if you are a big fan of Capote (like I am) or of Katherine Hepburn, as this was one of her last appearances. Also, the wonderful Julie Harris plays Sook, who is the heart and soul of the movie (and the stories mentioned above.) However, if you are looking for a "happy, happy, joy, joy" Christmas movie - you should probably skip this one.

Truman Capote's story rises above some mediocre acting. I love his writing so I watched this. I didn't enjoy it as much as his Thanksgiving story, but it had its moments.

I felt Winkler was badly cast. He seems like a New Yorker among Southerners, not sure if this was on purpose. Katherine Hepburn is fine despite her failing health.

The boy was not a brat, as some reviewers have said. He is a troubled boy who Misses his mother and wants to know where she is. Sadly, his father does not tell him the truth, and this causes him to wish to be back with his aunt.

Julie Harris is wonderful as his aunt.

All in all, it's worth watching if you can overlook some of the performances.

I'm not sure how some others arrived at a negative conclusion after seeing this movie. I checked it out from the library,having found out it was the last thing Hepburn ever did on film. Hepburn is basically by this time playing herself (and except for her most extreme movie roles) I think she always had to some extent.

Her charm in the movie is simple and easy. Hers is really not the main role in the movie,that would be Buddy and his father. (Played by my favorite actor Henry Winkler.) While his character is obviously not aware that his best efforts in being Buddy's dad are only hurting him more,he is really just a man trying to re-connect with his boy.

Buddy is not a brat but a child filled with hurt and confusion. (With a dad like he has,that is crooked and an embarrassment before the town it's no wonder! ...but all becomes rectified by the end I wont say how). It is after all,a holiday film. One watch is all it took to make me want to see it again....at Christmas.

(Interesting to note: Kate's first movie "A Bill Of Divorcement" & last movie "One Christmas" both take place at Christmas.

The only reason I give this 6 stars is because of Katharine Hepburn. This just happened to be her final film role and I still can't figure out why she'd choose this as an end to her glorious career. She is the only reason I saw this movie and after viewing it, I can't say there was anything I enjoyed about this film other than her presence, even though her scenes took up less than 10 minutes of screen time. She is visibly frail in this movie, with her head shaking so severely, I though it was going to fall off any second. There were some good performances by Swoosie Kurtz and Henry Winkler but everything else about this movie "stinks". I just didn't connect with any of the characters due to their underdevelopment and the movie doesn't feel like it takes place in the 1930's, but then again I suppose the budget of this TV movie wouldn't allow that. Like I said before, I'd only recommend this to Hepburn fans, but anyone else shouldn't bother.