User reviews

I really wanted to like this movie. The setting's gorgeous and the plot of teen loss and loneliness redeemed at Christmas through the healing power of friendly spirits should have been great.

Sadly, the execution of this great idea was lacking.

The actors were mostly okay, but the script gave them little to work with. There were some touching moments but they were few.

Character motivations got lost in the scrap paper bin or on the cutting room floor until far too late in the film for viewers to care much. Plot and subplots were all crammed in there together. The spiritual significance of the night pond never quite made itself clear, and the inspirational speech that was clearly supposed to redeem that main plank of the plot was frankly a mess, both in writing and in delivery. There was absolutely no reason for the townsfolk to clap except that they were told to. Or maybe because that was the last time they had to show up for filming.

Like I said at the start, I really wanted to like this film. But I couldn't.

It wasn't great but something different in a Christmas movie market saturated with cookie cutter plots.

I never expect a lot from the Christmas movie industry. I don't mind seeing one that deals with pain and grief and doesn't have someone falling in love after their spouse died 10 months ago. My biggest complaint was Santa's eyebrows and the mall Santa would never cut it in real life. Lol. I watch a lot of Christmas movies and don't make it past 20 minutes on many of them but I finished this one. I do strongly agree with some reviewers that this movie had the potential to be much better. Only watch this If you are a Christmas movie fan or a hockey fan with daddy issues.

The scenery was awesome, and that's all this movie has going for it. The teenager spent the first 2 hours scowling and accusing and demanding answers for the Big Mystery. Finally Mom reveals the answer to the Big Mystery. Yawn. Then he spends the last 30 minutes smiling sappily. Somehow he equates real estate development with the spirit of Christmas. What? I was rather hoping Angry Teenager would fall through the ice and end the movie early.

Poorly acted, terrible script, & unnecessarily, excruciatingly looong! The main character was so unlikable, I couldn't even find any sympathy for him. None of the characters had any redeeming qualities. I made the mistake of watching the entire thing, hoping for it to get better, but after nearly THREE HOURS, it never did, & mercifully ended...FINALLY!

If you are feeling depressed, then don't watch this film, you will be more depressed......

The story is weak and goes nowhere, acting is amateurish and poor, and the heavyhanded Christian wholesomeness is forced and tiring. Who chastises a child for saying "darn", anyway?

I usually like family films with a happy ending theme. This is certainly an exception! Everyone is without explanation mean, over emotional, and over the top. The use of flashbacks combined with fantasy doesn't work. There is no reason a mother wouldn't explain to a senior in high school the circumstances around his father leaving the family. There is no reason anyone would sell their house on the lake worth enough that apparently that the developer will make a fortune on it. How about just keeping your house and once the development is done selling your land for a killing?

Then there is the lead kid. Mad at everyone and everything but it takes almost 90 minutes to find out why. Oh, and his speech at the town meeting... worst movie scene ever candidate. The town mayor... she is the worst actress in a family movie. Belongs in one of the Asylum disaster flicks for real. The move is truly cringe worthy!

With all the really great family movies available I HIGHLY RECOMMEND you SKIP this drivel...

Do not go by the DVD cover. This is NOT a cheery and happy Christmastime movie. That is both unusual and a good thing as it anchors this festive tale in a more realistic universe and reality.

The main character, Bobby Whiteside has the weight of a few troubles on his back. The death of his friend the year before, his father leaving home, and an uneasy home life where he constantly argues with his mother and brother.

Feeling that the world is against him he wants to leave the township where all his torments fester forsaking his family, even his sister Roxie, who is the only family member he has a decent relationship with.

This is his story of revelation and change.

The story is tight and the magical and fantastical elements of the tale are handled really well. Another great thing about the movie is the director, Jack Kissack, decided to not make it bright and glossy but keep it darker and bleaker as the story dictated. The acting is top notch and the realistic ending doesn't detract in any way from the meaning of this modern fable.

This is one of the better Christmas movies around, but don't watch it if you're looking for a happy feeling.

I liked the premise. But from the opening scene I could tell it was going to be bad. Pretty poor across the board. The acting was almost as bad as the script. I can't believe I watched the whole thing.

Will Bobby miraculously learn to love Christmas? Will he save the lake? Will he leave town? Will his family have to move?

If you're looking for an inspiring movie with a positive message, this may not be it. If you're looking for a family movie, this isn't that either. Plenty of curse words have been bleeped out in the version I saw--though Sarah looks foolish criticizing Bobby's for cursing around his sister after some tamer words are substituted. And Roxy imitates him and also gets yelled at.

This movie eventually gets where it is going but takes a long route to get there. And then runs off the road into a ditch.

Aside from one of Bobby's mysterious visits which suggest something about life after death which is not consistent with the Christian faith, this movie has little in the way of spiritual messages. The change in tone toward the end is at least inspiring but not the "miracle" some movies like this have. At least it's not predictable.

The biggest positive quality of the movie, and maybe the one reason to watch, is Siobhan Williams as Karen, who is such a great character and so nice. She sees something in Bobby that apparently we don't, because there's not much to like about Bobby. Although we are supposed to hope he gets what he wants.

Other that Williams and Will Sasso as a terrible Santa, the acting here is mostly on the level of people sitting around a table reading the script for the first time. Even the mysterious characters don't really impress. Jeremy is a particularly unlikable character until the end.

If you enjoy this movie, that's the true miracle.

I managed to watch 44 minutes of this movie, so had an hour left but I was bored out of my mind and simply didn't care enough about any of the characters to sit through another hour of it to find out how the movie ends. Usually I wouldn't leave a review of something I hadn't finished, but I just know that this movie wasn't getting any better from instinct and from seeing other reviews. It's a nothing movie. It has no Essence. There's nothing to say about it And I'm only writing words now because there's a required character limit. This movie isn't good and I wouldn't recommend that anyone watches it.

As some others have said, this could have been good, but slow pacing, lack of crisp writing and an ending that simply is stupid killed it.

... if you can stand another disaffected teenager plot line then you'll warm to this movie. I'm assuming you are into this seasonal genre whereas I am not, but I still found this film entertaining. It's all there. The central character at war with the world, grieving for his tragically dead friend, bailing out of the school hockey team accompanied by peer mocking and insults, boy girl romance (yes, she backs him up against the pack) big business moving into Miracle Lake which for our hero has magical qualities transforming at night into an ice hockey rink. There are some captivating atmospheric scenes, good camera work, solid direction and editing. For the global audience the movie also offers an idealised vision of priviliged north American life. Talk about feel good!