The Christmas Box

The Christmas Box, is my favorite holiday movie. I have enjoyed The Christmas Box each year (since i first saw it) and believe it's a one of the those holiday movies you have to see each holiday season. Has a great cast with Maureen O'Hara and Richard Thomas leading the way. I highly recommend this movie, the best Hallmark movie i have ever seen. Don't miss it!

I didn't plan to see this. Instead I just sat down while my wife was watching it and ended up seeing it all the way through. It was difficult not to get emotionally involved, mostly because of the acting of Maureen O'Hara. Yes, some of the plot mechanisms are clichés. Yes, the overall message of knowing what to truly value most has been done many times by Hollywood. But the understated performances from O'Hara and Richard Thomas along with a good story really make this movie well worth watching. I ended up being so affected that it drove me to write this review in the hope that it might influence someone else to see it. And perhaps enjoy it as much as I did. Merry Christmas everyone...

This is a made-for-TV Christmas movie starring Hollywood legend Maureen O'Hara as Mary Parkin, a widow who is being cared for by ski-shop owner Richard Evans (Richard Thomas) and his wife, Keri (Annette O'Toole). They moved into Mary's estate after Richard struggles to balance his family and career life.

As with many families, there is a husband or wife who seem to put work over family. This movie beautifully depicts Mary giving the career-oriented Richard several lectures in having a healthy family life and has him guessing what the greatest gift one could have is - as it is revealed by the end of the film.

There are quite a few sappy moments, but the characters were well-acted for the most part and the plot was quite solid, giving us a pretty captivating film with many heartfelt dramatic moments. In addition to the drama, there is also a touch of fantasy elements that give the film a bit of suspense and intrigue.

Overall, a good one to watch during Christmas time.

Grade B

This movie was very enjoyable. It was a sweet story with great actors & a very good script. Richard Thomas & Maureen O'Hara always do a wonderful job, as did Annette O'Toole. The script & dialog were not predictable or boring & the ending was not disappointing & had an excellent message. It is a story of love and lesson, without being overdone or boring. At times, it was very funny, also. One of our favorite holiday movies is "One Special Night" with Julie Andrews & James Garner. We will add this movie to our list, as well. We would recommend seeing this movie for a wonderful, heartwarming Christmas story.

"The Christmas Box" is the first story by best-selling author Richard Paul Evans to be made into a movie. The story of the book is interesting in itself. Evans wrote the story for his children and self-published it in 1993. When it became popular in his home state of Utah, a major publisher put the book out. It's the first book ever to reach The New York Times No. 1 spot in both the hardback and the paperback editions.

The TV movie was made the same year the story was published for mass distribution. The story differs considerably from the usual type of Christmas time films. It's a combination drama and fantasy. The box has very little to do with the story, but it's different enough to raise one's curiosity. The movie has a good cast with Maureen O'Hara, Richard Thomas and Annette O'Toole. O'Hara was 75 at the time and appeared in only two more TV movies before she retired at age 80.

The movie holds one's interest with a sense of mystery about O'Hara's character, Mrs. Mary Parkin. That mystery extends to her late husband who apparently became quite wealthy but was often away from home. A third mystery was the Parkin house. A fourth is gradually revealed, but it's not too hard to guess what it is early on.

This is a more serious film for the Christmas season. It provides a refreshing break from the frequent fare of fluffy, light-hearted romances sprinkled with humor or syrup.