Christmas for a Dollar

Watchable Christmas movie. These movies are supposed to be uplifting. But nothing seems to go right for these kids in a family struggling without their mother in the depression. So it's more serious than the usual Hallmark movie.

There is an injured horse and a missing dog and a bunch of bullies and an outspoken cute girl and a older nurse wannabe and a budding romance and a mean old horse owning woman. It's okay if you want a change from Hallmark fluff.

The kids didn't notice the prop, costuming, set, acting and other faults in this movie. The values that it enforces make it worth the watch, and the kids liked it. After a full day of shopping, lines, traffic, and decision-making this movie was a good ending to a "consumer" day. Nice way to wind down after "Elf" and "Rudolph".

I had the pleasure of watching this tonight for the first time. I decided I wanted to review it and as I came to the page, I read one from someone who said the cast was awful. OMG, the first thought that came to mind was just how amazing the entire cast was. You might find a movie here and there with a great young child actor; maybe one with even two; but this movie had at least 5; probably 8-10 when you think about all of the children in the movie. The grownups were great too. Some have criticized the direction but hey, this was a movie that takes place during the depression. I thought they did a wonderful job bringing that time period to life. I found the movie looking for films with Danielle C. Ryan (Danielle Chuchran) who may be one of the most beautiful young actresses I have ever seen. She is also very talented and always brings her characters to life. I would and will highly recommend this movie.

This movie will probably never get two thumbs up or great reviews from critics. It has no big name stars, no eye dazzling special effects, no twisted, convoluted plot and no violence or nudity, What it does have is a story of a family that works together under bad circumstances to have a Christmas of love and caring for each other. Yes the plot is a little predictable and much can be guessed ahead of time but don't let that stop you from enjoying this unsung gem. If you want to sit the family down for a couple of hours of popcorn and hot chocolate with everyone from 4 to 94 having a good time without being insulted by foul language or risqué scenes then by all means watch Christmas For A Dollar. it will be worth the time you take and will boost your holiday spirit!

Way better than I was expecting. At first, I was thinking "these are some pretty modern hairstyles for a bunch of people living in the depression", and "look at all these well kept homes that these look more like This is the Place state park than the dust bowl". But it didn't take long for the story to suck me in and even bring me close to tears a couple of times, and I'm a stoic dude. I knew it wasn't just me when my 9-year old had to leave the room because he couldn't bear to watch the developing conflict in the story line. Obviously, this isn't a high budget production, but if you can suspend your disbelief for a bit, you and your family will be entertained while learning some valuable lessons in the process.