En attendant l'âme soeur

This brand new Christmas movie (Lifetime - made in Canada - where most new Lifetime flicks seem to originate) is an excellent one. It has the ethereal aspects many such pictures have, reminiscent of "Ghost," sans a murderer. It's not a spoiler to indicate Jaime Newman's character (Susan) and her son (Burkely Duffield as Jonathan) lose husband/father early-on in an auto accident. He remains pleasantly "around" in somewhat the same vane as Patrick Swayze in "Ghost," although more positively so, and thankfully bereft of Swayze's wooden, often annoyingly-lethargic demeanor.

There is a villain of sorts, but not with any real menace, with whom Susan becomes involved. Her son is drawn to his school's hockey coach and counselor, played by Michael Shanks (as Kevin).

The story has its plot lines, of course, but its crux is the three leads "finding" one another, in a fulfilling way for all, but without shedding the memories of the losses they've incurred.

All of these actors/characters are thoroughly engaging, and Ms. Newman, whom I had never seen, is both beautiful and likable. The film's supporting cast is also well-presented.

The youngsters in films can often be annoying with a capital "A." It is always great to find ones who are the opposite (such as Michael Douglas' daughter in "The American President," or Tom Hanks' son in "Sleepless in Seattle"). Young Duffield is every bit as pleasant, believable and most of all, likable.

This is one of the positive type of holiday films which should become one to be seen in many seasons to come.

This Christmas movie is only made palatable by its three stars who all give good performances despite what is basically an incoherent, mish-mash of a plot. Jaime Newman creates a very realistic portrayal of a caring woman dealing with the unexpected death of her husband. She isn't perfect but she still tries hard. Michael Shanks is also very appealing as the school counselor with his own tragic past. While he went far beyond what school counselors would normally do, it still seemed believable. Finally, young Burkley Duffield also did a good job in making his character real without being obnoxious. (Why do kids in these movies have such an interest in their parent's love life anyway?) However, they are saddled by a plot that really makes no sense. The ghost of the husband who hangs around seems to have little to do with the plot. The radio contest is a complete plot contrivance. Frankly both ghost and contest could easily have been jettisoned and the focus of the movie on Newman's and Shanks' characters. Why not focus on these two attractive people who have to get beyond their personal tragedies in order to actually see what it is they need? And put it in the Christmas context if you feel the need to. Now that would have been a movie worth watching.

I watched this movie last night with my grandma and my mom. I had just stopped into their place to drop my mom off after Christmas shopping, and my grandma had already begun watching it. I saw a few minutes of it, found it to be so intriguing, that I stayed for the entire length of the movie. The actor who played Jonathan was a really great actor, especially for his age and experience. Very convincing. I hope to see him in more films in the future. The movie seemed really well made, and in my opinion directed really well. In most made-for-TV movies you find a lot of overacting and cheesy lines, I did not find that in this film. It's nice to see a quality Canadian made film, with mostly Canadian actors.

I recommend this movie to anyone who wants to sit down with family at Christmas time, and watch a good Christmas flick.

While I was expecting a "not too bad" TV movie, I was thoroughly surprised at the quality of this film. I found it totally believable and especially likable. The principal characters were extremely engaging. The story was very touching and the filming beautifully done. I even found myself thinking of the characters throughout the rest of the day and even for a few days afterward, always with a warm thought.

One of the main reasons this movie works so well is because of the son, Jonathon. Many movies with kids are irritating and hard to get through because of the precociousness of the kids. Jonathon on the other hand is a truly likable young man even though he is going through a lot of "stuff". You never catch this young man "acting" and his portrayal of this character is topnotch.

I would like to say "Well Done" to everyone on this film and encourage all to watch. This is a keeper!

A slushy romance full of saccharin, but it's still good.

When Jonathan's Dad dies in a car accident, nobody believes that he can still see and talk to his spirit, as he tries to get his Mother to move on in her life, so that his Dad can move on into the spirit world.

It's not the standard romance and there is something about Michael Shanks that is fanciable, together that helps to make this an enjoyable festive watch, even if the kid is somewhat annoying.