The Heart of Christmas

I created an account purely to submit a review because I am beyond shocked that this has any positive ratings.

1. It is most definitely an infomercial for St Judes. Nothing wrong with that hospital but this is a very long infomercial for them. Not a movie.

2. It is not about Christmas and barely addresses Christmas or any plot outside of the Infomercial. What little there is is very minimal and strung together

3. Candace Cameron Bure shouldn't be listed so highly in the list of actors in this movie. She's barely in it.

All the actors were great. Extremely liked Austin and his dad and mom. Hope to see them in other movie's! This movie will make you move on the inside with emotions. I am not an emontional person but watching what they all went thru and to see a mom and dad be so strong with the child of a disease the true parents if they are this strong God has to be with them.I hope that this movie will be one that the family looks forward to seeing every Christmas. I also believe that this movie should be viewed at youth detention centers. Maybe it would help the children who think they have a problem realize that they really don't. I pastor a church and have told my members to watch this movie with their children.

The whole movie plays out like a giant St. Jude hospital commercial.

While i feel the acting is good and draws the viewer in for an emotional movie experience, it seems like the screenplay was written for just that purpose. The writers create an emotional roller coaster where the only option is to donate money to St. Jude. The movie follows a family's struggle with a terminally ill child, but with frequent references to the St. Jude hospital's staff and general medical care it's hard to get lost in the plot. Next time i'd rather just watch their late night infomercials and skip the movie part of it. Not my ideal movie watching experience.

I'm not a "pearl clutching" type but my oh my, the venom being hurled at this film as being "just a commercial", well, no it's not just a commercial it's a movie and yes it's also trying to raise funds for....sick kids and desperate parents, what's wrong with that?

Then there seems to be this bickering over the acting with some feeling they have to praise it and others ripping on it. Reality is, the acting was acceptable and got the job done, really not the point of the film.

So, how about I actually review the film itself eh? I don't want to spoil stuff but I'll just say I popped it in a few Christmases ago not super paying attention at 1st cuz figured it was gonna be another standard fare Candace/Hallmark film - which I enjoy them - but just saying I had no idea how serious this was going to get.

I do recommend this film and won't give away specific plot details but will "forewarn" parents, this does deal with the often harsh realities of children getting sick, there's no graphic surgeries shown or anything like that, but this is about a real childrens ward and not all the characters are going to have a happy ending.

I see many other reviews have praised the acting but I don't understand why. It's awful acting and in many parts, awful writing too. I appreciate it's based on a true story and I don't want to take anything away from it, but I agree with one reviewer who said it's like a commercial for the hospital. If you're looking for a tear-jerker, there's way better films out there.