Un Noël sans fin

This is a made for TV movie about a teenager who has a terrible Christmas day but gets to re-live it again and again. He gets the opportunity to change the way Christmas pans out.

It's a good natured tale and is very entertaining and while not laugh out loud funny, there are plenty of good light hearted moments. In addition there are also a few poignant moments. The setting is great but what makes this a well above average TV movie is the talented and likable cast. Whilst many TV movies suffer on this score, this one has a cast that features no weak links at all. Zachary Gordon is great as the teenager coming to terms with groundhog day and Bruce Dern adds class as the grumpy grandad. Bailee Madison also shines as the girl next door, putting in a very natural performance.

The usual Christmas messages abound but are dealt with here without the usual schmaltz. This has the feel of a much higher budgeted movie and is one of the best Christmas TV movies I've seen.

This is one of those films that is much better than you think it will be. As an easy to watch Christmas film this really hits the mark.

A very derivative but likeable Christmas TV movie, centring on Pete, the less-loved, put-upon middle child of three boys born to affable middle-aged American parents. After he has a nothing-else-could-surely-go-wrong Christmas Day with his family, a meteor shower occurs and hey presto, the young man wakens up the next day only to find he has rewound in time to relive his whole wretched Christmas Day experience all over again. So, amongst other things, he gets no present, gets the blame for ruining the family Christmas dinner, gets pelted with snowballs by the local heavies, also clobbered by same at the inter-neighbourhood festive American football game and joint worst of all, blows his chance of romance with the pretty new girl who arrives next door and sees his dad and grinchy old grandad argue to the point where gramps walks out on the family before the end of the day. Same day by same day, like a junior Bill Murray, he rights every wrong, closing on the real biggie, reconciling his dad and grandad to break the loop at last.

So it's pretty obviously a Christmas edition of "The Wonder Years" meets "Groundhog Day" the latter right down to young Pete using his repeat time to learn a musical instrument from scratch and find a way to his initially reluctant girl's heart, but it's all done so openly, inoffensively and amicably, plus it's only a Christmas T.V. show for pity's sake, your surname would have to be Scrooge for you not to be mildly entertained at the very least.

The two young male and female leads give nice performances in their Kevin and Winnie-type roles and Bruce Dern is the most recognisable cast member as the hard hearted old grandfather. The only really objectionable thing for me about this otherwise pleasant Christmas movie was the wishy-washy original music trilling away in the background but for fans of the two sources mentioned, this is a nice little film to while away the time if you're stuck indoors at Christmas with nothing much to do.

Pete Kidder (Zachary Gordon) is having a bad Christmas. He makes a bad first impression with new neighbor Katie (Bailee Madison). He can't do anything right. His dad got downsized. His grandfather is judgmental. His mother's cooking has gone wrong. His brothers are annoying. Then Christmas day starts again.

This has some good adult actors (Bruce Dern, Molly Parker, Rick Roberts). The filmmaking is lackluster. The kid is rather average. That's both fitting and a little bland. The first repeat should have done more. Instead, the movie skips a lot of it and it keeps skipping. He keeps doing the same thing for far too long. It's not that hard. This Groundhog Day premise should have faster progression and Pete is just too whiney. He's also a little bit of an idiot and not the funny kind. I can't believe that the older kids are still talking about Santa with respect to the presents. Grandpa should not be tried so early. He should be left all to the last act to finish the movie. There is a better progression to be done. The premise could work with better writing.

This is a uplifting, coming of age film. The story is about Pete (Zachary Gordon) a middle child who has the worst Christmas ever. He wakes up the next day and realizes...it's Christmas day again and again and again... Will Pete fix Christmas and have the best day of his life or will he be stuck in the same day forever?

What I love about this film is the cinematography. The Christmas decorations and snow look amazing. The sets create a great atmosphere for the film. I also like the story. At first it seems cliché - boy has a bad day and has a chance to fix it - standard issue. However, the pacing is different. Instead of it being just a few days of Pete reliving the same day, it feels like months before he realizes that he can affect the outcome of his Christmas. At first I didn't like this, but once I thought out it as a coming of age film I accepted the change. One think that was distracting to me is the writing. Don't get me wrong, the dialog is fine. I just think the set-up for the story is rushed. The writers wanted the story to go a certain way and forced it by placing the pieces together instead of writing as if the characters were living through this situation.

My favorite character is Grandpa (Bruce Dern). He's a grumpy man who doesn't want to get the cold shoulder this Christmas. I love how Bruce plays this role, how he wants to spend time with family. Sadly he wants Christmas to be like his dead wife's Christmases. In his mind, the family doesn't celebrate it right.

My favorite scene is when Pete tells his dad why Grandpa judges their Christmas. I pick this scene for one reason - the reaction on the father's face. He takes his time to roll through all the emotions and it's just perfect.

The moral here is, "It's not what you put in the box that matters. It's what you take out." No matter how much Pete recreates Christmas and gets what he wants, he stills feels that something is missing, something that is important in Christmas. Giving!

I rate this 5 out of 5 stars and recommend it to 6 to 15-year-olds. Younger kids can enjoy the funny moments and the merriness. When you get a little bit older, you know the story is predictable but it is still a movie to get you into the Christmas spirit.

Reviewed by Keefer B, KIDS FIRST! Film Critic. For more youth reviews, go to kidsfirst dot org.

Everyone in the family (except for the grandparent) were so annoying, they were driving me mad! At the end is Ok.