Mary Christmas

Excellent acting by John Schneider (Dukes of Hazard County & Smallville), Cynthia Gibb, and nine year old Jenna Boyd, who played Schneider's nine year old daughter, Felice Wallace, who wrote a letter to Santa Claus asking for a mommy. The letter ended up on the desk of Gibb's Mary Maloney, a TV reporter who was goaded into filming Felice and her family's Christmas. Tom Bosley did an excellent portrayal of a mysterious temporary governor, i.e., a male nanny, for Felice. Renee Ridgeley of "The Young And The Restless," portrayed the woman in Schneider's life whom Felice felt was intrusive in their relationship. My wife and I were spellbound watching this movie with a heart. This movie crosses age groups and I would recommend it to anyone wanting good clean entertainment. This review was of the November 26, 2005 showing recorded from PAX television and viewed several days later.

Wasn't expecting much, but this TV movie presses all the buttons for a great Christmas movie With a really good cast and a wonderful Dickensian plot this has that X factor that so many movies miss. Gives you a warm glow. Very soppy but very enjoyable from a 50 year old bloke.

NOTE: I work with cameras and am continually analyzing what makes good (and bad) movies so this movie review is more than just a surface thing.

I didn't see this on TV but did recently on DVD. There are so many crummy movies being made lately that all I hoped for was something decent to watch with my family. Boy was I surprised! Not only was this movie very well produced and acted but it had an interesting and novel plot (I mean how many new ways can you do "Boy Meets Girl").

I can get very critical of bad acting where the actors don't really seem like they believe what they are doing. In "Mary Christmas" there was a real feeling portrayed between the various leads as well as those with lesser parts.

I would have only made two changes in the entire movie and they were only minor but would have given it an even better feel.

Heartland Entertainment can be very pleased with all who had a part in this film from the casting, directing, and acting to the camera crew. I would love to see them make another movie of this quality. I'm going to buy a bunch of DVDs and give them away as Christmas presents.

Thanks to all for having a Hollywood look without all the Hollywood garbage. You forced me to give this movie a very high rating.

The Generic Critic

While it may seem that this film is just another version of Miracle on 39th St, it adds so much more. The writer drops hints that you probably wont pick up on until the very last.I enjoyed the somewhat suspenseful story line. I thought I had it all figured out until the last scene. And it was definitely worth waiting for the final scene. All of the actors do a splendid job. I was impressed at the natural air of the production. By that I mean all of the actors, even those not in the forefront of a particular scene gave the impression that this was a real story happening right then. John Schneider and Cynthia Gibb do a superb job in portraying their characters. And Tom Bosley carries his character's suspense right to the very end.

It is just a great film. I may wear my copy out and have to buy a new one. I believe this will be a modern classic, with the likes of "A Wonderful Life" and Miracle on 39th Street. I have shown the film to several people because I want to hear and see their reaction at the end. So far reactions have been fairly consistent with a surprised "Oh!" For anyone who wants to see something great happen to someone else they can experience just that with "Mary Christmas".

This movie is simply wonderful! Cynthia Gibb and John Schneider work well together. Jenna Boyd is a terrific actress, and I have a feeling that her career is just going to take off! This film is a great, feel-good Christmas flick. It's not one of those ordinary, could-never-happen-in-a-million-years stories, because stranger things have happened. I would definitely recommend this movie to anyone who's in a Christmas-ey mood.