A Árvore de Natal

Sure, it's sentimental. Sure, it's schmaltzy. But isn't Christmas, when you get that warm glow from thinking about the holiday season--in a Norman Rockwell kind of setting--just as schmaltzy too? I read the beautifully illustrated book and thought it would make a wonderful present for my sister who lives in Maine. After this made-for-TV film came out, I contacted her to find out how she liked the film--which I thought was wonderful. She just found it empty, not saying much, a disappointment.

But I think it was a very slender story to begin with and Sally Field has directed it with an eye for warm details and, yes, sentiment. And JULIE HARRIS gives the kind of performance she's famous for--simple, earnest, truthful. The tree had become something so close to her that she was reluctant to see it torn down to serve as New York City's famous tree at Rockefeller Center.

Unfortunately, the story details escape me now, having seen it only once the night it made its debut in '96 and expecting that it would become a rerun the way IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE did. No way. All of the performances were fine and although many would find it a bit hokey to make such a fuss over a tree that ends up in Rockefeller Center, it was done in a way that had a magic sort of appeal. Beautifully photographed with lush vistas of New England landscapes, it had a certain charm that tried to capture the warmth of the book.

Summing up: By all means worth seeing, if you can. I have no idea why it has simply disappeared from sight.

When "The Christmas Tree" was on, the phone rang. It was my mother. I had picked up the phone without really thinking. All I said was that the best Christmas movie ever was on and I could not talk right then and hung up the phone, not answering again, until the show ended. I have a big flowering crab that grows in front of my house that gives me so much pleasure during every season and I sometimes think of it as "Tree". I agree with others, why do they not replay this movie on TV? Release it, let us buy it. I would so love the opportunity to see it again. I have bought the book and it is nice, but Sally Field really brought the story to life.

This was a charming TV movie. One I wish were available on VHS or DVD. It was a thoughtful and seasonally appropriate movie demonstrating the love one has for nature's gifts and learning to let go of those cherished gifts, to make way for something new. Think about giving up something as an adult, which you have cherished since childhood. I imagine it would be very difficult. That's one part of what this movie allows the viewer to be aware of. Of course there are other story lines about growth and love and giving. All very much a part of the meaning of Christmas. While an uncomplicated plot overall, the movie encourages the basics of the Christmas season and the basics one usually encounters in life. A simple story with several valuable lessons.

This movie has become a traditional part of my Christmas season along with the movie All Mine to Give. I was lucky enough to have taped it when it was shown just once the following year and then never again. Of course I have all the advertisements, etc. to skip over but it is still worth it. This is a movie that stays with you forever. No matter how many times I see it I am still left with the same haunting feeling. I can't understand why it is not rerun or sold on DVD. Every year I search for a store copy of this beautiful movie showing how the greatest joy can be had with just the simplest things -- a tree and a beat up old satchel.

This is a great tear-jerker. I cried and I cried and I cried. I am old-fashioned and sentimental and this filled the spot. Possibly a "woman's movie"? I would highly recommend this to people who are loving, thoughtful, and sensitive.