Un drôle de Noël

An angel (Harry Dean Stanton) must show a mother (Mary Steenburgen) the true meaning of Christmas. It is not just presents and materialistic things, but the people she cares about.

What I enjoyed most about this film is how dark it is. Others have called it bittersweet, which may be fair, but it just has so much negativity in it. A mother who hates Christmas, a bank robber, three people who die...

Of course, the mother has some right to be upset. Her husband, as nice of a guy as he is, is something of a deadbeat. There is nothing wrong with wanting to open a bicycle shop... but, you know, it would not hurt to have a job in the meantime, even if it was just part-time. You have to have a home before you can do much else.

Gideon is a most unusual angel, and we could question the theology behind it. Angels are not generally dead humans, but a different creature entirely... and then, how does a Christmas angel differ from a standard angel? Apparently just being killed on Christmas? And it seems like others who die are sent to work for eternity in Santa's workshop. That is not my idea of heaven. But, oh well...

As a bonus, this film is the big screen debut of Elisabeth Harnois, Sarah Polley and Elias Koteas. That is quite a landmark all by itself.