A Luz da Cidade

Thomas Kinkade (Jared Padalecki) is struggling to paint his art. He goes home for Christmas with his brother Pat Kinkade (Aaron Ashmore). Their mother Maryanne Kinkade (Marcia Gay Harden) has fallen behind on the mortgage payments and is about to lose the family cottage. Their neighbor and Thomas' mentor Glen (Peter O'Toole) is slowly deteriorating.

It's the late great Peter O'Toole in one of his last films. The man is deteriorating right there in front of our eyes, but his screen presence is still overpowering. The glint in his eyes is ever sparkling. It's a small supporting role and he's doing a completely different movie than everybody else. His performance could win awards while the rest are doing Hallmark adjacent work. It's too bad that it's all in the service of this bland Christmas biopic TV movie.

The script has flimsy, predictable, cliche laiden stories and "character" developments that anyone can see miles away, but the cast seems to have fun. Even the Late Peter O'Toole manages to shout out a final big cliche ladien speech with some ...Peter O'Tooleness - which is always fun to watch.

The first 5 minutes of the movie one can see the ending coming at that moment, however, the very moment Chis Elliot shows up on screen, that does tend to throw out some of that predictability. His presence does tend to liven up the film. Plus, the Kinkade sons father also tends to throw in a few Un-Hallmark like moments that confuse the heck out of me.

Jo Bob Briggs says: you should watch this (only once though)

Review Date 6/20/2019

I Have Reviewed OVER 500 "Christmas Films and Specials". Please BEWARE Of films and specials with just one review! For instance When "It's a POSITIVE" chances are that the reviewer was involved with the production. "If its Negative" then they may have a grudge against the film for whatever reason. I am fare about these films.

This film has "Christmas Spirit" to spare. It is a well made star filled story that you can't help but to overlook that it does rip-off of "It's a Wonderful Life". In this film Christmas Cottage tells the semi-autobiographical tale of how a young boy is propelled to launch a career as an artist after he learns that his mother is in danger of losing the family home.

The film works and that is all that matters. Watch it with your family!

This biographical TV movie takes a look at artist Thomas Kinkade (played by 'Supernatural''s Jared Padalecki) and how he was inspired to paint his most famous piece: The Christmas Cottage.

While not a fan of Thomas Kinkade myself, I am a fan of Jared Padalecki and thought this looked like an interested piece of work to see him in. It's a rare time to not see Padalecki fighting demons or serial killers, so it'd be good to see him trying something new. While Padalecki did a fairly good job, the film was simply mediocre. The narration was annoying and trite and the overall story was far too hokey and cheesy to be taken seriously. It will work well with fans of Hallmark Movie-of-the-Weeks and the like, but anyone looking for some quality, illuminating cinema. . . move on, this one isn't for you.

Final verdict: 6/10.

This is a movie which is sure to divide people. It is based on the early life of Thomas Kinkade, "the painter of light". It is a story of the sources of his inspiration: his mentor,and how the difficulties faced by his mother provided a motivation through which he began to find himself.Its weakness is that it isn't sure of its own purpose.It is certainly not a biography or a Christmas movie in the ordinary sense and its comedic moments often miss the mark.In many ways it is like a Kinkade picture: a little sugary and sentimental yet with a warmth and humanity that can touch our hopes for a world where we all have a place and where everything comes out alright in the end However,it it isn't grounded in the reality of the world as we know it. The script is very uneven,occasionally very hammy,yet produces some fine moments. Peter o' Toole's performance as Tom's mentor, rapidly approaching dotage and a loss of his powers is a fine one and justifies a viewing.I also enjoyed the background music.Not for anyone who shrinks from sentimentality.