We Need a Little Christmas

7.8 stars.

These two endearing women carry a Christmas presentation better than most. I must say I wish to see more of them both on Hallmark this year and in the future.

The story is of an older woman (Whitfield) who dearly misses her grandson whom she's expecting home for the holidays. She lives next door to a woman (Durance) and her son who are grieving the loss of husband/father who passed about a year ago. A nice man also enters their lives soon after, and together these four characters create a wonderful story full of encouragement and healing. There's even a little spark of casual romance, suitable for the uplifting theme.

'We Need a Little Christmas' is the right mix of sadness, loneliness, hope and happiness amidst grief. It is presented in such a way to summon sympathetic tears and profound joy.

Erica Durance was very convincing as a woman (Julie) juggling a lot of challenges and emotions. She had to deal with being there for her son, who lost his father, while dealing with her own pain in losing her husband, all while trying to keep her business (and self esteem) afloat. Her character's frustration was believable, and the writers made sure to show that she wasn't perfect (who is?). Still, having a huge pile of unopened mail sitting on a table, in full view of every client who comes into her office, was a bit much, especially when her assistant pointed it out and offered to take care of it. That scene really bugged me. But her jealous overreaction to Irene's growing connection to Julie's son seemed more realistic.

At first, I thought Lynn Whitfield might be overacting a bit as the perpetually upbeat neighbor Irene. But then I realized that her character has a theatrical background and it made a little bit more sense.

I thought Julie's growing attraction to Peter (played by Patrick Sabongui) was also believable. He seemed like a nice guy.

Gavin, Julie's son, was played by Azriel Dalman and I thought he did a nice job of playing a conflicted and confused little boy.

Overall, I thought it was a solid effort.

Some of them scenes felt awkward because of the dialogue and the camera angle choices. The lead actress was strong, as was the supporting actress. But some of the other characters could have been neighbors of the crew --that's how absolutely ZERO inexperienced they were. . It was almost cringe-worthy.

The wardrobe department did a nice job and the costumes were nicely done. The sets were done well -- not overtly repurposed buildings that are typical in Hallmark movies. And reasonably decorated for Christmas, not the typical "xmas tree in every bedroom" nonsense.

The neighbor character (and the actress playing that part) saved the movie from being a complete loss.

The movie was decent. Th3 acting was good. There was nothing in it that made me want to watch it again in a hurry. Th3 neighbor was great and the lead male and f3male worked. Didn't see chemistry but wasn't necessarily their fault. The writing left more areas trying to incorporayeneighbor but didn't build chemistry. I would have hoped they acted more bonded like watching Christmas on my mind or one of my other favorites. Christmas in homestead worked it all. Need to pickup the pause in these or justspend logical time building chemistry versus trying to get the viewer to assume they have it. Spend more than 10 minutes to make the movie.

This is the story of Julie a new widow and single mom, who is looking at spending her first Christmas without her husband. She moves to a new neighborhood across town (I am not sure why she would want to uproot her son who is already dealing with loss) and has this big plan to do all the Christmas traditions with her son Gavin...only Gavin doesn't seem to be having any of it. Thankfully Gavin meets their next door neighbor played by Lynn Whitfield. Lynn Whitfield had to be the kindest and most understanding neighbor. She not only takes Gavin under her wing, but helps his mom realize she can't do it on her own.

Inspired by her neighbor, Julie becomes a better person and honestly a better mom.

This is a little sad for a Christmas movie...but the messages are good and it has the obligatory happy ending. Romantics will appreciate this film.