Mr. Christmas

Beth Brickell has created a wonderful film based on her own childhood experiences. Less than an hour in length, this heart-felt story manages to pack quite a punch. It's The Bicycle Thief, American-style. Themes of parental love, responsibility and guilt interplay with a charming look at a little girl's wish for a bike from Santa, a wish which Santa may or may not be able to grant. Set during the onset of the USA's participation in WWII, this movie feels authentic. With its deft capture of life in small-town America, the story reaches across generations of families to touch us all. Don't miss the extras.....including a full commentary by director and cinematographer. The outtakes are hilarious.

If you purchase any movie to watch during the holiday season, get this one. It's only 56 minutes long, yet it is a story that will be in your mind forever. Your whole family will enjoy it!! That goes for grandparents, parents and even the youngest of movie fans. I highly suggest that you also watch the extra sections after viewing the movie. To think that "Carol Lee" had never before acted was amazing. The two little girls....not related to the other....were wonderful.

My sincere thanks and pats on the back go to Beth Brickell for her dedication and diligence in her writing, directing, and sharing memories of her life with the world.

I love Christmas movies of all kinds, and this looks like it should be a winner; but the dialog is so stilted, and the acting, directing, and editing are so bad that it's really disappointing. Despite having all the requisite ingredients, it is very very poorly done. The only saving grace is the costumes, which are wonderful, and very evocative of the period (the '40's). But everything else is so bad that it overshadows the one good thing.

The plot might be fine in other hands, but in this production it is almost completely obliterated by poor directing, performances, and editing.

I would love to at least LIKE this, but it was just really poorly done!

You needn't view this fine family film at Christmas time to enjoy it. Its message transcends the seasons and speaks to the goodness people demonstrate, and the gift of the family arrangement God gave to us.

Set in the late Depression Era, the moral of the story is timeless and is clearly pertinent to our time.

Merely for its costuming, settings, and appointments this upbuilding film deserves an award. If you grew up during the Fifties, you surely will recall many homes which looked as do the lovely homes in this film.

Home decor is straight from the late thirties/forties and every bit of it is lovely. The 'floor mode' radio is quite authentic as are all the tobacco cannisters, green desk lamps, and the railway - everything.

Saw this film a couple years ago on THIS TV, and thought well enough of it to purchase it for the collection.

The father's devotion is demonstrated in the little things, making a sleigh for his kids, spending time with them.

If you've a heart you'll surely find it warmed by this fine story.

Paul Vincent Zecchino Manasota Key, Florida 26 December, 2012

If this movie is meant to be an example of a fine, family movie extolling good values or virtue, I'm appalled. Today I was privileged to meet with a mother who just lost her second son in the space of a year to a terrible disease, and whose grandson was murdered, yet was a true model of grace, beauty, and strength of character in the way she faced these things. Then I watch this movie, which, in contrast was so shallow in its characters and message. The mother in this movie came off as self-centered, angry, abrupt, aggressive and abrasive, with no real strength of character, very unsupportive of her husband. Even her reaction to the supposed "miracle" showed no hint of redemption of her character. I'm certain she continues to be a terror to her husband. I can't remember the last time I struggled so hard to like a movie. Hen-pecked father with a tyrant wife, with spoiled children. Don't get me wrong, I can see that what we are "supposed" to get out of this movie is that the father is trying to support and uphold a child's simple faith and goes to great lengths to try to make it happen. But I never got a believable sense of a depth of struggle from this child. Instead, I felt I was watching a child from today's spoiled culture, who insists on getting her own way (all she had to do was watch how her mother treats the husband, and she's set for life on a course of manipulation) Set against a backdrop of a country at war with Japan, with hard times to overcome, the family seemed more in keeping with today's Yuppie family's children values (pampered, never satisfied, self-pitying, always expecting to get what they want). I can't imagine a family in the 1940's behaving this way. There wasn't any depth, or feeling of genuine, believable emotion. It was shallow. The acting was mediocre. In regards to the technical aspects of the movie, this was a "B" movie from the opening frame. The camera work reminded me of a home movie, made by an amateur. Many times it just seemed the camera was just set in a room from a distance and turned on, and the whole scene was shot from this one, distant view (which added to the shallow feeling of the film). There was even one scene where it appeared the camera operator didn't realize that the actor had one more line to say, and was moving the camera away, but swung it back to catch him saying his last line. I could forgive the poor technical points of the film if the story had any real depth. I wrote this review because I was, first of all, astounded at how bad a film it was, and secondly, equally astounded that there were reviewers giving this film a glowing review.