Miracle à Manhattan

Hallmark specializes in Christmas movies, and this one punches all the emotional buttons. Indeed, the story of "Miracle in Manhattan" AKA "Debbie Macomber's Call Me Mrs. Miracle" is like a large jigsaw puzzle that miraculously resolves into a perfect Christmas snow scene for the holiday.

Jewel Staite ("Firefly") plays Holly, a pleasant young woman who works for Lindy Lowe (Lauren Holly), a designer of women's clothes who is the prototypical horrible boss. Holly meets store manager Jake (Eric Johnson) and somehow bumps into him again and again. At the center of this Christmas tale is Mrs. Miracle (Doris Roberts), a seasonal employee at Jake's store who may be more than just the nosy interloper she appears to be.

Those who are suckers for sappy Christmas stories with benign paranormal forces at work will appreciate the heart in this TV movie.

Quite refreshing to watch during the COVID-19 quarantine; while watching it, I never once thought of it. It's a "warm fuzzy feeling" movie as are all of the Mrs. Miracle movies. I highly recommend it.

To my surprise, this turns out to be one of my favorites among the many "Made for Television" holiday movies. The cast is an ensemble that does this heart warming story justice. It has a number of inner stories that all seem to get tied together in the end. Obviously, the love interest, but also the father who has stopped celebrating, the child taken away from a father by the war, the up and coming designer trying to make a go of it, the son who is trying to show his worth, and a number of other little threads to get tied together. And, you cannot miss Lauren Holly as the fashion designer. She is hilarious. There is a little something for everyone. Just a simple Christmas story to sit back and make you appreciate the holidays and bring a smile or two. If you don't like this one, you should probably be celebrating a different holiday.

Liked the first 'Mrs Miracle' film, while not loving it. It was charming, heart-warming and very easy to watch with a truly great Doris Roberts. Even if the pacing and dialogue not perfect and there was little original. So a nice film if one doesn't expect a classic. While follow ups don't always have good reputations, the second 'Mrs Miracle' film was watched anyway as Roberts returning was hard to resist and being a big lifelong fan of Christmas (and many festive films and specials).

This follow up turned out to be better than expected. Actially liked it a little more than the first film, with the same great things repeated and a couple of improvements along the way. It is not perfect or one of my favourite Christmas films by all means, but as far as festive follow ups/sequels go (very variable in quality) this fares quite favourably. It also compares favourably to the other recently seen Christmas films too, which was an interesting if uneven experience.

Shall gets the imperfections out of the way. Of course the story is predictable again, one knows what happens next a lot of the time. The too neat and abruptly introduced ending being a prime example.

What is also introduced out of nowhere and completely rushed through is the 180 character change for one character, meaning that the change wasn't believable. And it would have been if the change was gradual and if it was an ongoing conflict, not something that happens out of convenience. It is a touch slow in places perhaps too and the dialogue a bit cheesy early on.

A lot is good here though. Roberts once again radiates in charm and comic joy. Jewel Staite and Eric Johnson are also likeable, with a lovely natural chemistry, and Lauren Holly, while over the top at times, enjoys herself. Tom Butler does a nice job. The film looks decent, the locations are particularly striking. The music provides some affectionate nostalgia and is pleasant to listen to, while the direction avoids being too routine. The Christmas atmosphere is handled charmingly and affectionately and the romance is genuinely sweet and doesn't go overboard on the schmaltz.

Roberts' presence does lighten things up and avoids the film from getting over-serious. Despite the predictability, it has its heart in the right place, a difficult to dislike atmosphere and while not all the messaging succeeds it is well intended and has an honesty about it, also found it relatable. There is definitely a festive spirit and there is plenty of warmth and charm here, with enough parts to warm and melt the heart. Never does it feel too juvenile or mean-spirited and the sentimentality generally doesn't become too much.

Nice film overall. 7/10.

I really pity the unjustified Scrooge mentality of the 3 negative reviews of 4 before mine. I'm sorry they fail to realize that what one perceives as "plastic" in acting is often just as much a failure on the part of the viewer even to be WILLING to connect with the actor, a willingness I've had for some years with Eric Johnson/Jake & Jewel Staite/Holly and now appreciate having with Doris Roberts/Mrs. Miracle.

I realize the suspension of disbelief can be overused and often is, but in my viewing there was little needed on my part. I thankfully already knew Jewel Straite from Stargate: Atlantis days but was happy to find the two new "jewels" of Jake & Mrs. Miracle, though not realizing that Jake's Eric Johnson was the same old lovably affable self in Flash Gordon of a few years ago. Why they pass up wonderful guys like him for leads or cancel the shows in which they ARE leads is a sad testimony especially to the bad nature of the media and to some extent the viewers. Long story short, don't listen to the Scrooges that panned this jewel; be like Scrooge himself became, joyful adherent to the joys of Christmas by joining Jake and Holly and fellows in this warm-hearted "Merry Christmas" celebration movie. Don't miss it!