Un souhait pour Noël

Here 40-something Kristy Swanson plays 30-something Martha Evans whose husband of 4 years runs off with a woman in the weeks leading up to Christmas, wipes out the bank account, and leaves her with three children aged 3 to about 11. Not sure why but she puts them all in the old family car and heads north, ending up in a small community in Utah.

Once there she has to find a place to stay and a job and ultimately has to rely on the kindness of her new friends to make a go of it. And the kids have to start at a new school with the boy dealing with the school bully.

This is a nice small movie, some of the dialog doesn't seem to fit but overall nicely acted and with a good message. It was nice to see Edward Hermann in a different role for him, he died in 2014.

My wife and I watched it on Amazon streaming movies.

Our family likes to watch Christmas movies on the Hallmark Channel. While most of the shows are similar it is a safe network to view family style programs. Some of the shows are so bad we just laugh at poor writing, cheap production values and just plain bad acting. Watch "The National Tree" and you'll know what I mean. "A Christmas Wish" was on par with some of the better programs. While the story was familiar to many Hallmark movies the dialog was a cut above. The show was actually filmed during the winter instead of summer with fake snow scattered around. There were some cute moments which caused us to laugh out loud (in a good way), but perhaps what this Christmas movie had that the others did not was the true meaning of the season. Although not over bearing it did mention the birth of Christ and the importance faith plays in our lives. Overall a good effort.

This television film shows that all of us need help at one time in our lives. It also shows that "It Does Take a Village".

In this film Martha's no good husband, Cal (Bart Johnson), has left her for the last time, emptying her bank account and disappearing without a word. Hopeless, Martha takes to the road and winds up in a motel broke & homeless with 3 kids.

This film sounds like it is a downer but in reality it is a great film to watch. This is a film about how all of us can help anyone at anytime. Small things you think you did can make a huge impact on people.

This film is not far fetched. It is not just people in small towns in the United States that are like this. However in small towns word does get around fast when someone needs any type of help!

Most modern Christmas movies are either fantasies about romance found unexpectedly or about troubled families whose members discover the true meaning of Christmas. Very few have different or original plots. I can't think of another film that has focused so completely upon the plight of a single mother struggling to raise three children after her husband deserts them.

"A Christmas Wish" is a true drama that doesn't have to be set at Christmas or in any particular season. But the seasonal theme adds something to the film. That's significant in providing hope for a happy ending, where this film digs deeply into the intensity and stress of the woman giving her all so that her family can survive.

The film has some light and amusing scenes, with some witty dialog and funny moments. But it also has intense drama. There are sad scenes, depressing situations and incidents that seem almost hopeless for Martha Evans. Some people may not appreciate this as a Christmas movie to cherish and watch in succeeding years. But others may find it especially appropriate.

Evans is a very believable single parent under extreme duress. Kristy Swanson gives a superb performance in that role. It was deserving of an Emmy nomination but the Emmy's seem almost to have a bias against Christmas themed films. Perhaps it's because each year brings out one to a few movies that appear to be just slight moderations of well-worn themes. And Kirstin Dorn is tremendous as the very intelligent and wise young Mel Evans. The rest of the cast all give good performances.

This is a very good drama about a life that far too many women have experienced, and that has too seldom been shown in film. For that reason alone, this is a movie some may want to keep and replay in years to come. It's also a film about hope and perseverance and good rising from dedication, sacrifice and love for family and children. That's what makes it an especially different and memorable Christmas film.

Here are some favorite lines from the film.

Mel Evans, "Why do you call the car Jack?" Martha Evans, "Because it rhymes with Cadillac."

Joe Hopkins, "Gotta help heathens once in a while, or he wouldn't have a congregation."

Lola Metcalf, "Do you know why most women would rather have beauty than brains?" Martha Evans, "Why?" Lola, "Because most men can see better than they can think."

Martha Evans, "Okay, how do you want your eggs?" Les McCallum, "From a chicken." Martha, writing on her order pad, "Right! No fish eggs. Uh, how do you want 'em?" Les, "On a plate." Martha, "Raw?" Les, "Over, easy."

Martha Evans, "Well, being single's not so bad." Joe Hopkins: I'm not single. I'm romantically challenged."

Lola Metcalf, "Here you go (mumbling in a low tone) tall, dark and available."

Lola Metcalf, "In fact, you're the first woman I've seen him take an interest in." Martha Evans, "The destitute mother of three?" Lola, "Yeah, go figure."

Lola Metcalf, "Side of gravy's comin' up." Frank, "I need more butter." Lola, "You want some heart medicine to go with that cholesterol?"

My Christmas film viewings over-time have been a very mixed bag. With some surprisingly good hits, where regardless of how predictable they are succeed in being full of charm, warmth and heart so succeeding in being light-hearted and undemanding fun. But also some quite big misses, where the characters are not likeable, everything is forced and shallow with implausibility too in some of the worst cases, the acting and writing being weak and basically with just nothing to them.

Despite being a long way from perfect or being a complete hit, 'A Christmas Wish' is thankfully closer to the former category. It is the second Kristy Swanson Christmas film seen back to back (the other being 'Angels in the Snow') and is the infinitely superior one, with it actually being a good film and Swanson is also much better here. Although the story execution is not perfect, 'A Christmas Wish' is still sincere and moving and is worth seeing for primarily the cast.

'A Christmas Wish' isn't perfect. It takes a bit of time to find its footing pace-wise with it being a bit thin and draggy story-wise at times. Not all the script is there, with moments of awkwardness and sugar heaviness.

The messaging is well-intentioned but features too much and is on the heavy-handed side.

However, there is a lot to like about 'A Christmas Wish'. It looks attractive enough. The scenery is both rustic and festive and the photography doesn't look rushed or drab, quite beautiful actually. The music doesn't come over as too melodramatic while still having some presence. The direction is suitably sympathetic on the most part while taking a little time to find its feet. The dialogue is not perfect either but the cheese and sentiment don't go overboard and it generally doesn't come over as stilted.

Furthermore, the story, despite its imperfections, is warm hearted and has a lot of well meaning heart, without taking itself too seriously. The film did leave me feeling very moved. The characters interest and are worth investing in, not being too perfect or having flaws too exaggerated, which was refreshing after seeing a few films with distastefully over the top unpleasant characters that you are meant to root for. Swanson's performance is deeply felt and doesn't get melodramatic. Kirstin Dorn is a charmer and similarly moving and Edward Hermann once again plays the type of role he played so well beautifully.

Overall, not great but well done in a lot of areas. 7/10.