Un papà per Natale

Olivia plays a widow with 2 young daughters living high in the mountains and facing the prospect of a bleak xmas having lost her job and with the threat of the bank taking her home through non mortgage payments.

Gregory Harrison plays bank employee who is to deliver the fatal news on xmas eve gets stuck in her house due to a car crash in a snow storm on xmas eve.

Making xmas cakes to try and make some extra money for the holiday season,Olivia and daughters,one of whom is played by real daughter Chloe whose acting at such a young age is quite credible.

Despite his somewhat nasty character Olivia falls for gregory harrison who although already has a fiance and in true disney fashion all ends happily with Olivia getting to keep her house and is given a framed drawing of her two daughters by harrison.

Bleak settings help to give atmosphere to the film and Olivia is maturing as a tv actress with this film being made not long after her successful battle with breast cancer.Not a glamorous role for Olivia but one with real grit and determination. 8 out of 10.

Olivia makes a tremendous leap in her acting abilities following a rather "wooden" (pun intended) performance as a mannequin in yet another Christmas television movie, "A Mom for Christmas." This wonderful movie co-stars Gregory Harrison, whom she would also act with in the AIDS-drama "It's My Party," and also marks the acting debut of her daughter, Chloe Rose Lattanzi, whom, much later, would become an international singing sensation in her own right.

The film centers on a widowed mother of two young girls who is struggling to make ends meet in order to save the bank from foreclosing on her mountainside home. Bleak stuff for Christmas, huh? Then, along comes mean mister bank man, played by Gregory Harrison, who must give Olivia the bad news that the bank has taken over her house and she must move. All this fun on Christmas Eve...

Well, along comes a storm and forces Harrison to stay with Olivia & girls , and romance ensues, but not without some trials (including a dying lamb)... It really seems bleak, but it all works out in the end, and Olivia turns in her strongest role yet.

It is unbelievable that this movie has yet to be released on DVD - it was a top 10 favorite the year it was made, and has been re-run on television throughout the years since. Also, with Olivia's (and now Chloe's) popularity, the movie would surely be a strong seller. Repeated viewings have proved just how strong this film is, and it definitely ranks up there with the seasonal holiday classics that are re-run every year. It's a beautiful film.

The Christmas Stranger was an excellent storyline. The casting was great. The story was a lot like my life, except I haven't found the right man after my husbands sudden death. I love Christmas just as Julia, can't bake like her though. But, back to the movie, it was great, I wished I could own it on VHS or DVD. I would love that.

"A Christmas Romance" was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia. That provides one of the pluses of this film, which really needed more - real snow, and lots of it. The filming location is pertinent in my comments because the sense and feel of the screenplay is that this film is set somewhere in the Blue Ridge or Appalachian Mountains. It's never really made clear in the movie.

The other plus for the film is the two young girls, whose characters provide much of what is enjoyable about this film.

Olivia Newton-John does well with her role as Julia Stonecypher. But Gregory Harrison's Brian Harding is hard to take. It may have been written that way, which makes the screenplay itself mostly at fault. While the story has a somewhat different plot for the year-end type of Christmas romance films, it's not a very good or interesting one. Again, the screenplay and the role of Brian Harding are bad. There is no chemistry between the leads, and any blooming romance isn't believable. Indeed, his character is so dull, and poorly acted, that his sudden turn around isn't believable.

The musical background throughout tries to imply comedy, but it turns more on hokeyness. Except for Daisy the ewe birthing its lamb and a couple of good lines in the script, this film doesn't have much of interest. Here are those lines.

Deenie, on her mom lettering the five-year-old Emily Rose go out into a blizzard by herself, "You let her go out there, all by herself?" Julia Stonecypher, "She'll be all right." Deenie, "Sure."

Brian Harding, eating some of Julia's Christmas cake, "What it this flavor in here? I can't get enough of it." Julia, "Bourbon." Brian, "What is it?" Julia, "Bourbon. I use artificial flavor for the Methodists and the Baptists. The Catholics and the Episcopalians like the real thing. That cake is Episcopalian."

Snow strands a young widow (Olivia Newton-John) and her two daughters with a banker (Gregory Harrison) holding their eviction notice. Olvia Newton-John plays her part effortlessly.

A Christmas Romance

Olivia Newton-John plays a widow with 2 young daughters living high in the mountains and facing the prospect of a bleak "Christmas" having lost her job and with the threat of the bank taking her home through non mortgage payments.

Olivia's 1994 film A Christmas Romance was really Olivia's celebration that she was alive and well after her ordeal with breast cancer.

The film was also special as Chloe, in her screen debut, played her on-screen daughter (billed as Chloe Lattanzi).

TV Movie where a debt collector gets stranded by bad weather at the house of the lovely single mother (Olivia) he is harassing for unpaid debts....This did very well in the 1994 Christmas ratings, reaching #7 in the ratings for that week.

This film is worth watching. Watch it if you get the chance. Never boring. Its one of the better Christmas TV-Films that pop up in December.