Milagres do Coração

I sat down tonight to watch a Hallmark Christmas movie. The title included "Blessing" in it, so I thought this would be happy-ending movie.

Instead, the entire movie was depressing and brought my spirits down during this Christmas season. There was a list of members of two families that had died, along with a list of people who were ill and dying.

Thanks Hallmark for making our "spirits bright" and bringing us a depressing, morbid movie. The only saving grace to this movie was the excellent acting and the country singing. That's it. I will definitely not be watching this movie ever again. My sister did not like this movie either and said it had a wrong title and should not be a Christmas movie.

My family and I enjoyed this movie very much. Is it possible that it will be coming out on DVD anytime soon. We look forward to watching The Christmas Shoes and The Christmas Blessings for years and years to come. These are great family movies and even if you do not cry that much you better still have the tissue sitting right beside you. It really gets to you but in a great way. It also has great family values that are wonderful. We really need more of that. It would be wonderful if they could make another sequel to this one or think of others to do like this one. We need more things to remind us what is really important. Like is the job more important than family and friends. Is your childs life on the bottom of the totem pole compared to working constantly. I guess I think of it in more of a day to day blessing because my husband works and I stay home and take care of the kids. So that they always have a parent here to talk to. Thank you.

As we follow a certain pair of red shoes from the earlier TV movie "The Christmas Shoes" (2002), handsome lawyer Rob Lowe (as Robert Layton) appears briefly. He'll reappear later, but does not play a significant role in this sequel. This time, our hero is boyish doctor Neil Patrick Harris (as Nathan Andrews). He promises to see that a teenage patient is home for Christmas, but the young man unfortunately expires during surgery. Angrily throwing his doctor's smock down in the hospital hallway, Mr. Harris declares. "I can't do this anymore!" He goes home to live and work with auto mechanic father Hugh Thompson (as Jack Andrews). Playing "stick up" with Mr. Thompson further establishes Harris has some late-term growing up to do...

While helping dad in the shop, Harris meets attractive single teacher Rebecca Gayheart (as Meghan Sullivan). Felled by a flat tire - a surefire way to find a date in TV movies - Ms. Gayheart thinks Harris is a "cute mechanic." She is learning to speak Spanish in order to be a better teacher, but tells her Vermont, USA class Cinco de Mayo is celebrated in Mexico as their Independence Day. The students are either too polite to correct her, or afraid to speak and be asked to leave the set. The main pupil is imaginatively bright, chubby and sad preteen Angus T. Jones (as Charlie Bennett). He is being raised by alcoholic single landscaper Shaun Johnston (as Tucker Bennett). All of the aforementioned characters have physical and/or emotional flaws...

The holy spirit of Christmas, without being too heavy-handed, seems to bring the characters together. Some may live and some may die - but all will benefit from getting to know each other. God is a fan of tear-jerking melodramas, obviously, and Heaven isn't such a bad fate for believers. It is tempting to knock "The Christmas Blessing" for mediocrity and predictability, but each of the stories in the movie series accomplishes something that is becoming increasingly rare - character-driven drama without bombastic special effects. The plots and characters created by novelist Donna Van Liere are handled well by the production team and actors. Lord knows you could find less engaging ways to spend your viewing time, without even looking.

****** The Christmas Blessing (12/18/05) Karen Arthur ~ Neil Patrick Harris, Rebecca Gayheart, Angus T. Jones, Hugh Thompson

This film is a strange beast as it's better than the original first film. If you enjoyed the Christmas Shoes then you should enjoy this festive tale.

Beware though, you will need a box of tissues for the ending: This is a heartwarming tearjerker which does just as it says. Even though the clichés are throughout the story; but then again isn't that just the case in Christmas films(?); I found myself reacting to the characters situations. It's the acting and direction that work the tears free from your eyes.

I really liked the idea of "The Christmas Shoes" journey through the film. It is a little cheesy, but the world is a small place, and things like this can, and do, happen.

Well worth watching on a cold winter's night, while cuddled up under a blanket, by a fire.

This made for TV movie is a sequel to the 2002 film, "The Christmas Shoes." Both are based on novels by Donna Van Liere. Some of the characters and cast are the same in the two films. But "The Christmas Blessing," has new characters and several more families and people whose paths cross in interesting ways.

So, this film has love and romance, healing from earlier losses and overcoming long-held periods of grieving. And, it offers some new tragedy with love, sacrifice and redemption. The plot in this film is very good, but considerably more complex than in the first film. It has many sub-plots, and for that reason, the script and direction have difficulty in places keeping the parts tightly together.

As in the first film, the cast are all very good. Again, the scenery, settings and camera work are all excellent as well. This is another very good film for the whole family, including younger children. It's a nice movie for the holidays, with Christmas again forming the main setting for the film.