Le Bonheur en cadeau

Doris Roberts gives a wonderful performance as a Mary Poppins like nanny who comes into the life of grieving widower James Van Der Beek and his two twin sons. Her name is Mrs. Merkel but the kids start calling her Mrs. Miracle. And soon a few miracle like events start happening.

Van Der Beek is an incomplete person, he tries to play both roles with a series of housekeepers who quit on him. He won't let go of his late wife and refuses to talk to the kids about the mother they don't remember. Through the good offices of his Miracle worker he meets Erin Karpluk who is nursing a broken heart and a grudge against a sister who stole the man she wanted away. You just know that these two people are meant for each other, you just have to provide the right circumstances.

Shot in Canada this film was done for the Hallmark Channel and it's one of their better original films. Although you might think at times you're watching a feature film length episode of Highway To Heaven or Touched By An Angel, Mrs. Miracle can stand proudly on its own merits.

Definitely for fans of Doris Roberts.

Mrs. Miracle is one of the better Hallmark Christmas movies. The story is great, the chemistry is on point, and the Christmas aspect adds a wonderful touch. I absolutely loved the whole concept with forgiveness and moving on. I thought it fit perfectly into the story and was handled well. Erin Karpluk and James Van Der Beek give terrific performances, along with Doris Roberts. Overall, this movie is worth the watch!

"Mrs. Miracle" is a pleasant mixed genre film for the Christmas holidays. It has comedy, drama, fantasy and family. The plot combines a number of elements that have been used in various films.

James Van Der Beek plays the male lead, Seth Webster. He is a widower of several years who has twin sons. He hasn't been able to get over the loss of his wife, but he loves and dotes on his boys. The sons are a handful and Seth can't keep a housekeeper for long because of them. He apparently is able to work at home a great deal as an architect.

Erin Karpluk plays the female lead, Reba Maxwell. She's not interested in men since leaving theater work and starting her own successful travel agency. She is estranged from her sister who ran off with Reba's fiancé just before she was to be married several years earlier.

The film has a good dose of comedy throughout, and also is a serious drama with each of the leads not being able to reconcile their lives. But they both can see the problem in the other person.

The third character is Mrs. Merkle. Her character, played by Doris Roberts, resembles "Mary Poppins" and "Nanny McPhee" from those films. The twins, Judd and Jason, call her Mrs. Miracle. And, before this film ends, Seth, Reba and others will come to see the housekeeper as a real miracle worker.

This is an entertaining and good film from the Hallmark channel and its annual Christmas holidays programs.

Here's a favorite exchange of Mrs. Merkle with the twins. Mrs. Merkle, "Well, sometimes grownups need to be alone to talk things over." A twin, "What kind of things?" Mrs. Merkle, "Well, scientists have been trying to figure that out for hundreds of years. I'm not sure they're ever going to figure it out. But I have my own theory." The boys listen with rapt attention. Mrs. Merkle, "I think they're talking about what they want for Christmas." The other twin, "Ohhhhh!" Both boys nod knowingly.

That James Van der Beek is a charming fellow. The script gives him that and not much else. But it's sweet and Doris Roberts is a treat!

And amazingly, his name is entirely missing from the IMDb credits for the movie! He's not the only focal point. But JAMES VAN DER BEEK has the principal role in this story about a widower who needs a housekeeper who can deal with his two rambunctious boys--and stumbles across romance with plucky ERIN KARPLUK.

Both are hurt from their previous romantic encounters and have to find true love through forgiveness and the machinations of a fairy-tale figure who becomes his housekeeper, nimbly played by DORIS ROBERTS.

The Christmas program part of the story is the weakest sequence in the whole made-for-TV movie. But because the cast is refreshingly natural (the two boys are excellent), and because James Van Der Beek is exceptionally sincere as the boy's young father (especially in his scenes with Erin), the predictable tale stays afloat because of the charming way it's told.

Recommended viewing around the holidays--even if there is an air of deja vu about the whole thing.