Noël

No tree decorating, baking cookies or building snowmen. Instead this is a character study of several different people trying to make sense of life. (I counted 6, but maybe Charlie doesn't count.) They all cross paths, some more closely than others.

There are several more popular actors and all do at least a credible job. Susan Sarandon's story is perhaps the most interesting and she does it well.

The story wanders a bit, but I think intentionally. The TV replay I watched was chopped a little too much for commercials and so a couple of times the transitions were confusing.

It is my favorit Chistmas theme film. for many reasons who, year by year, are more and more. first - as puzzle of gray lives. the second - for forms of love. not the last - for moral lessons, many not real profound or credible but useful for easy demonstrations about the structure of relationships. sure, it could be defined as forced, naive or childish, as sketch of serious film or as film using the Christmas only as pretext. but it has all the virtues to be one of expected films by viewer . for cast, off course. for Paul Walken , especially. for angels. and for the encouraging message. and, maybe, for its special beauty. like an Renaissance angel. so, for me, a special, real special film.

"Noel" is a lovely holiday fable that has been unfairly savaged by critics. I found it a charming matching of everyday hard knocks (though only shot partly in New York City) and magic realism.

Key to its attraction are two of the central characters amidst the ensemble Christmas Eve stories.

Susan Sarandon is marvelous as a 40-something woman dragged down by her Alzheimer's mother who undergoes in effect a walkabout through the city to reexamine her life.

Paul Walker is wonderful as a very macho, very New York cop whose explosive jealousy around his fiancée pushes her away. As she is Penelope Cruz in the only English-language role I've ever liked her in, his reaction to how guys look at her is grounded in some reality. His own reaction to her sexy private dancing for him ratchets up the seasonal temperature in terrific chemistry of his blue-eyed blond and her sultry darkness, though I don't know if the televised version on TNT cut anything from the theatrical version.

The central characters are touched by oddballs, played by Robin Williams and Allan Arkin, who are as unlikely as Clarence from "It's A Wonderful Life" or the old man in "Prelude to a Kiss," and similarly help them reach important epiphanies at dawn.

The pay-off also finally comes in a side story about a man with nostalgia for Christmas in the E.R., but is more heavy-handed.

The repeated jokes about straight guys misidentified as gay are of the heavy handed "Will and Grace" mode but are useful to specific plot points.

I was a bit distracted by some of the bad acting, but overall, I was happy I watched the entire movie. I loved the characters and "reality" of life and loneliness. Having a grandmother (now passed away) that was in a VERY SIMILAR situation to the woman in the hospital, it was very sad. I brought this movie to my mom's to watch, and she cried through the entire movie. She could relate to Susan Sarandon's character perfectly! I love exploring spirituality, so the areas in the movie that touched on that aspect were refreshing. Parts like that always bring a sense of hope about our own lives. Christmas movies are always so entertaining, as they portray a lot of what the holidays can REALLY be like in some families' homes. The chaos, the emotions, the old hidden resentments, etc. All in all, it was an enjoyable movie. LOVE Robin Williams, and Susan Sarandon. They both still look GREAT!!!

In need of some Christmas spirit, I decided to watch "Noel" from 2004. All I saw was the name Susan Sarandon, so I didn't realize that the late Paul Walker and the late Robin Williams, who died within nine months of each other, were also in this film. Reason enough to cry right there.

Noel is the story of several people on Christmas Eve and Christmas. Walker is Mike, a police officer, engaged to Nina (Penelope Cruz). His jealousy is tearing apart their relationship. He has another problem. Artie (Alan Arkin) who runs a coffee shop is extra-attentive and shows up at Mike's house with a wild story.

Sarandon's character, Rose, is a successful book editor who is divorced. She is caring for her mother, who has Alzheimer's and doesn't talk. In the next room there is a man who seems to be in a coma. He's always alone, so Rose, as she's decorating her mother's room, goes into his room and puts an angel on his window. In the corner of the room, behind the door, sits Charlie (Robin Williams), who startles her.

Rose meets Nina after she leaves Mike and goes to her family's Christmas Eve dinner. And she runs into Williams again; he has a bizarre story as well.

Then there's Marcus who has someone to break his hand so he can be in the hospital on Christmas. As a child, it was his best Christmas ever. We can assume from that he didn't have a very happy upbringing. Mike, Dennis, and Artie all end up at the hospital at the same time.

This is a really lovely film about miracles and angels who walk the earth whom we don't recognize as such, and how we can touch each other's lives without knowing it. It was very sweet and uplifting and, as I said, a massive tearjerker given the presence of the two late stars. One chose death; one had death thrust upon him. Either way, it's tragic.