Le souhait de Noël

1:44 a.m. I don't have the Hallmark Channel, but have somehow managed to see lots of Hallmark-esque Christmas movies the last few years (thank you KBYU and Light t.v.) So far I haven't seen mention of the nativity in any of them.

"48 Christmas Wishes" "The Christmas Village" "A Very Corgi Christmas" "Blizzard" "12 Days of Christmas"

What about even "Shoelaces for Christmas" and "Christmas Jars" which have local connections? Even "Christmas Oranges" I'm not sure mentions religion to any great extent.

"Christmas Snow" - made by some mainstream Christians - is the only one that does mention the nativity. It has a very very sweet Christmas pageant, and a very strong spirit.

Am I the only one that thought the boyfriend was out of line charging in *with no notice* to his (clearly not longstanding) girlfriend's house WITH his kid's suitcase and expecting the girlfriend to take care of the kid overnight? And then, later, he has the sheer audacity to get peeved at her for taking in the man who saved her life, because she may be endangering his daughter?

This all happens early on as mostly the setup for the story, but I lost a lot of respect for the main character in those two scenes, because in everything else she's portrayed as tough as nails, and if she'd kept in character she would have told the guy to forget it. This scenario made it easy for the writer to set up the next events, but it made the story less strong. Even a small conversation about why he hadn't phoned her first to ask her if it was all right or even actually phoning and her agreeing to it would have saved both those characters in my eyes.

Christmas hasn't been the same for Kathleen since her father left one Christmas Eve. This Christmas is different. She's thrown together with a young girl and an old man and learns not only how to celebrate the holiday, but also how to love again.

I had the chance to see a preview of this independent film at the Gideon Film Festival. This is a very heartwarming story about a Grinch-like woman who finds love, peace, and forgiveness--a true Christmas story. I loved the performances by Muse Watson and Catherine Mary Stewart, and newcomer Cameron Ten Napel could well be the next Abigail Breslin.

If you have the chance to see this film, I highly recommend it.

BEWARE OF FALSE REVIEWS & REVIEWERS. SOME REVIEWERS HAVE ONLY ONE REVIEW TO THEIR NAME. NOW WHEN ITS A POSITIVE REVIEW THAT TELLS ME THEY WERE INVOLVED WITH THE FILM. IF ITS A NEGATIVE REVIEW THEN THEY MIGHT HAVE A GRUDGE AGAINST THE FILM . NOW I HAVE REVIEWED OVER 200 HOLIDAY FILMS. I HAVE NO AGENDA. I AM HONEST!

A woman unable to separate the joys of the Christmas season from the pain of her family past gets snowed in with two people who help her to realize what it takes to find true happiness. Thirty years ago, Kathleen's father left the house on Christmas Eve, and never came back. Ever since that day, Kathleen (Catherine Mary Stewart) has blamed her mother for breaking up…

This film is slow. The filmmakers could of easily consolidated many scenes or moved things along in a faster pace. This would of served the film better. I don't not fault the actors they are all good. The fault was the approach the director took. The screenplay however has flaws as well.

Now this film could have been better but it is forgettable. If you watch this at night by morning you will forget the basic plot.

That was my experience.

This falls in the category of sappy Christmas movie, but it's a good one. It's a sweet story with likable characters and a satisfying ending.

Like most Christmas and/or feel good movies, the plot is a bit contrived, but nothing too far fetched. I especially enjoyed the young girl - once she got over the bratty phase and started letting her personality show. The old man - Sam - gave a heartwarming performance, and his reading of the story of Simeon was beautiful.

There is a message of faith, but it's subtle and you certainly don't feel preached at.