12 DATES OF CHRISTMAS
“12 Dates of Christmas” was released in 2011. It stars Amy Smart, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Benjamin Ayres, and Jayne Eastwood.
To read my review click here. I want to warn you this blog entry contains spoilers.
This movie follows Kate, a young woman who after a horrible blind date on Christmas Eve, wakes up to find she is re-living that same day and date all over again.
Why do I love this movie? It makes me laugh. Don’t get me wrong, there’s romance and kindness and other feelings but I enjoy the funny scenes.
It is a take on “Groundhog Day” where the main character relives the same day repeatedly. Like “Groundhog Day”, she also uses this magic at first for fun and folly, but she turns it around to make it meaningful.
She is surrounded by interesting characters and situations to resolve. There’s her difficulty accepting her stepmother after losing her mother, her lonely neighbor she ignores, her ex-boyfriend who is getting engaged, two strangers, a man in a bar who is having a rough night, teens at a hockey center, and a man her stepmother set her up on a blind date with.
I like the way this movie handles her evolution. She doesn’t become a better person, rather, she becomes a better version of herself.
I believe a big part of Christmas is to stop thinking about yourself and focus on others. Kate takes this journey and finds true magic in just being there for others.
If you haven’t seen it, I hope you give it a try. If you have, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the movie. Happy Viewing!
A BRIDE FOR CHRISTMAS
“A Bride For Christmas” was released in 2012. It stars Arielle Kebbel, Andrew W. Walker, Kimberley Sustad, Eric Keenlyside, and Peter Benson.
To read my review click here. I want to warn you this blog entry contains spoilers.
This is a romantic comedy about Jessie and Aiden. Jessie is an interior designer who has walked away from three engagements and has sworn off men. Aiden is in finance and is afraid of getting too attached to anyone since his parents took his dog away when he was a child. Aiden’s friends bet him that he can’t get a woman to agree to marry him by Christmas. He chooses Jessie not knowing she just left a man at the altar.
When Jessie refuses to go out with him, Aiden hires her as an interior designer. Naturally they fall in love. She proposes to him and he says yes. Then her most recently jilted ex, Mike, overhears the friends talking about the bet and tells Jessie. She breaks things off. Jessie’s mom meets up with Aiden to fix it. Aiden and her family surprise her on Christmas with a wedding and we get our happy ending.
Why do I think this movie is special? It’s truly funny while also having deep emotions.
The humor comes in with scenes like Jessie running out on her wedding and her freaking out when she realizes she loves Aiden. There’s her father calling her Bolt, because of all the weddings she’s run from, and her mother having a scrapbook of her broken engagements.
The relationship between Jessie and her sister Vivian, is a big part of the movie. Vivian pushes Jessie, supports her, loves her, and catches her when she falls. We all need a Vivian in our lives. She knows when to step in and when to step back. The dynamic between the two is noteworthy.
The emotions come in all over the place. The movie goes back and forth effortlessly. There’s laughter then tears then laughter then love. It’s wonderful. The fact that the characters are so undeniably likeable, even with the betting on Jessie, helps bring the viewer into the movie as an experience.
If you haven’t seen it I hope you give it a try. If you have, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the movie. Happy Viewing!
THE CHRISTMAS BUNNY
“The Christmas Bunny” was released in 2010. It stars Florence Henderson, Sophie Bolen, Madeline Vail, and Colby French.
To read my review click here. I want to warn you this blog entry contains spoilers.
This movie is about Julia. A foster child who no longer speaks. Her most treasured possession is her video of The Velveteen Rabbit. She watches it all the time.
It’s also about a family in Michigan, the Coopers; mom Patti, dad Scott, and son Billy. Patti always wanted more children but it wasn’t possible so they decide to go through fostering to adopt. Her husband and son are reluctant.
Christmas day they go visit family and Billy and his cousin shoot a rabbit with their new BB gun. Julia is beside herself. Having fallen on hard times with Scott out of work, they can’t pay the vet to care for the rabbit, later named Rumple. He sends them to “The Bunny Lady”, a recluse who has a rabbit rescue. Julia ends up helping out at the rescue and through her love for the bunnies, she slowly starts to feel love again.
Why do I think this movie is special? I am admittedly biased. I worked as a teacher for over 20 years and I worked with quite a few foster children like Julia. Children who are viewed as difficult or bad when the truth is they are wounded because of the bad adults in their lives. Patti’s kindness and gentleness with Julia is heartwarming to me. She gets down on her level, speaks softly, tells her it’s okay not to talk. I just want to hug them both.
As the story goes on we see into the lives of so many Americans, especially today. Scott being frustrated because he can’t find a job, Patti doing her best to hold the family together, and Billy just worrying about himself, as he should, because he’s a young boy.
The parallels with the book The Velveteen Rabbit are there if you look. The ending is the most obvious. When Patti and Scott find out Julia has been made available for adoption they ask Julia if she would join their family. She wanted to know if that meant she was real now. So profound. She is saying she didn’t feel real like everyone else and she wasn’t loved. She’s also saying she knows this is home and she is now loved.
The movie is a drama. It’s filled with emotion. All the actors do such an amazing job, especially Florence Henderson as “The Bunny Lady”. I never fail to feel for and love the characters.
If you haven’t seen it I hope you give it a try. If you have, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the movie. Happy Viewing!
CHRISTMAS IN CONNECTICUT (1945)
“Christmas in Connecticut” was released in 1945. It stars Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan, Sydney Greenstreet, and Reginald Gardiner.
This is about a food writer who has lied about being the perfect housewife must try to cover her deception when her boss and a returning war hero invite themselves to her home for a traditional family Christmas.
To read my review click here. I want to warn you this blog entry contains spoilers.
This movie is a true classic. It’s an annual must-see in my house. If you haven’t seen it, you really should give it a try.
One main character is Elizabeth Lane. She writes for a magazine about her husband, her baby, the beautiful farm she lives on, and recipes for her amazing food. Small problem, she’s single, lives in an apartment, and can’t cook.
Elizabeth is surrounded by characters. The funniest is Felix. He gives her the recipes and is a cherished friend. The other main one is John Sloan who loves her and wants to marry her even though the feelings aren’t mutual.
Another main character is Jefferson Jones. He was stranded at sea with a shipmate in a lifeboat during the war. Because he went without food for so long he was stuck in the hospital. His shipmate convinced him that if he feigned interest in his nurse he’d get better food. It worked, but as he healed he started pulling back.
The nurse, who is actually working towards her Mrs. degree, realizes his reluctance to commit. She reaches out to Alexander Yardley, publisher of Elizabeth Lane’s magazine to show Jefferson a true home Christmas so he’d commit.
Yardley demands she have Jefferson at her home and announces he’s coming also. She tries to dissuade him but he won’t stop talking long enough to hear her.
She meets with Sloan, her editor, and Felix and they decide the only solution is for her to marry Sloan, the boring architect, and live on his farm.
A series of comedic adventures, including the borrowed babies, ensues with the whole crew at the farm.
Elizabeth very quickly realizes that Jefferson is everything that Sloan isn’t. The problem is Jefferson thinks Elizabeth and Sloan are married and Elizabeth thinks Jefferson is engaged to the nurse.
I won’t ruin the ending. It’s to good to watch as part of the movie.
I love this love story. It’s got amazing characters and Elizabeth and Jefferson have very witty banter. The combination of romance and humor make it a delight.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on the movie. Happy Viewing!
A CHRISTMAS WISH
“A Christmas Wish” was released in 2011. It stars Kristy Swanson, Edward Herrmann, K.C. Clyde, and Tess Harper.
To read my review click here. I want to warn you this blog entry contains spoilers.
This movie focuses on a family in need and the community that rallies around them. The mother, Martha, was abandoned by her husband who also took all their money leaving her homeless and broke with her stepson and two daughters. She leaves hoping to find a new town and a job. She stops at a diner and that’s where the story begins.
What’s special about this movie? I find it truly moving. It’s truly a drama but there’s so much love. All different kinds of love.
Martha is a pillar of strength while simultaneously vulnerable. Swanson does an amazing job portraying her. She is literally at rock bottom, but she won’t give up. Mostly for her kids but also because of her faith. Her faith in God is shaky at times, like when her son is taken by his father, but she holds on.
The way the people of the town surround and support her and her children is so moving. They don’t just give to her. They give her a hand up. They help her and support her without taking over. They let her stand on their shoulders.
I find it hard to explain the feeling this movie conveys. It’s best to see it. The love of this family through the hardest of days is inspiring. They have good times and bad times, but they always have love. Thanks to the community they also have an extended family that they love and that loves them back. As dramatic and often sad as the movie is, it ends with a feeling of hope. Showing the best part of Christmas is love.
If you haven’t seen it I hope you give it a try. If you have, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the movie. Happy Viewing!
CROWN FOR CHRISTMAS
“Crown For Christmas” was released in 2015. It stars Danica McKellar and Rupert Penry-Jones.
This movie is about Allie. She, her sister, and her brother are alone without parents. Allie and her sister lose their jobs as hotel maids. Allie is offered a job as a governess in Europe. She accepts it with the encouragement of her siblings. There she meets her charge, Theodora, and her father, King Maximillian aka Max.
To read my review click here. I want to warn you this blog entry contains spoilers.
I’ve decided to change how I do these spotlight movie blogs. Rather than just giving you a rundown of what happens in it, I’m going to tell you why I love it so much.
Allie is not your average American. She raised her siblings which taught her how to be strong but loving. Being a maid, where she had to work hard but not be seen, gave her some idea about what to expect in the palace, or so she thought.
The staff of the castle are an interesting mix of personalities and they keep the movie interesting.
Seeing Allie bond with Theodora, the sad child who desperately misses her mom and resents all the governesses who are just sad substitutes, is something so sweet and special. Sharing their stories of loss and overcoming it is moving.
Of course, it has the typical American girl who fall for a European King story line but I don’t care. This movie shows him more as just Max. A widower who loves his daughter and is trying to do what’s right for her. That’s what separates this from the typical civilian and royal romantic movie.
This movie doesn’t have a lot of drama. It handles situations with a light touch. That may be part of why I like it. There’s emotion and I felt invested in the characters and truly cared about them but I’m able to just relax and enjoy it.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen it but I can say I’m nowhere close to being tired of it. It’s ones of those I enjoy watching over and over again. I hope you give it a try.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on the movie. Happy Viewing!
A GRANDPA FOR CHRISTMAS
“A Grandpa For Christmas” was released in 2007. It stars Ernest Borgnine, Katherine Helmond, Juliette Goglia, Richard Libertini, Tracy Nelson, and Jamie Farr.
To read my review click here. I want to warn you this blog entry contains spoilers.
This movie is about Bert O'Riley, a retired song and dance man. He’s had no contact with his daughter, Marie, since she was little due to Marie’s mother. Marie thinks Bert abandoned them when really the mother took off and kept Marie from Bert. When single mom Marie is in a major car accident, Bert becomes an instant grandfather to the nine-year-old granddaughter, Becca, he has never met but who has been told nothing but horrible things about him by her mother and grandmother.
What’s special about this movie? The cast alone makes it worth watching. Having all those major actors in one movie working together is magic.
Seeing Bert and Becca slowly learn to tolerate, then like, then love each other, all with the support of Bert’s friends, is so sweet. It’s like watching two people slowly heal the pain they feel.
Marie is talking with Bert’s friend about him abandoning them and not being there for things like her tuition. Bert’s friend tells Marie that Bert always supported her financially and wanted to see her. He even went to her graduation. This allows us to also see Marie and Bert start to mend their relationship.
Katherine Helmond as Roxie add something truly special as Roxie. The cast needed a female to balance out all the men and she is such a huge personality she outshines them all. Roxie is the person Becca bonds with that helps her start to let her guard down.
Bert even gets his first Christmas tree since Marie and her mom left and lets Becca have friends over, along with his friends, for a tree trimming and caroling party.
Bert, along with his friends, takes over directing Becca’s Christmas pageant. He is going to miss it because he’s in the hospital but he signs himself out because he has to be there for her. Becca is having stage fright and is okay once Bert is there showing how much she is bonded to him. It ends with Marie asking if they can turn the attic into a third bedroom so they can live with Bert.
It’s a little corny at times but there’s something so very special about it. If you haven’t seen it I hope you give it a try. If you have, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the movie. Happy Viewing!
LOVE ACTUALLY
“Love Actually” was released in 2003. It stars Colin Firth, Martin Freeman, Hugh Grant, Keira Knightly, Liam Neeson, Bill Nighy, and Emma Thompson
To read my review click here. I want to warn you this blog entry contains spoilers.
This movie follows the lives of eight very different couples in dealing with their love lives in various loosely interrelated tales all set during a frantic month before Christmas in London, England.
Rather than just giving you a rundown of what happens in the movie, I’m going to tell you why I love it so much.
I adore Love Actually because as many times as I’ve seen it, I still feel all the feels. They have pretty much every form of love represented. There’s the loss of a wife, loss of a mother, a stepfather and stepson trying to develop a relationship without the mom there, marriage, best friend in love with his friend’s new wife, a couple with children dealing with the husband’s attentions to a female coworker, a man falling for a coworker, a sister caring for her mentally ill brother while harboring a crush on a coworker, a single guy who can’t find love so he goes to America where he believes women will love him for is accent, a vapid musician who is just a mystery, and an author falling for his new housekeeper. Please forgive me if I missed any.
This plethora of relationships allows the viewer to relate to at least one of them. The high caliber of actors means it’s so well done and you can feel what they’re feeling. It also somehow manages to tell the stories of all these characters without making me feel like I’m missing anything while also intertwining many of the stories.
The script is also amazing. The wording used for the characters really fits their personalities and tells us more about them. And who can forget the very classic scene where the guy stands in the doorway holding up poster boards with messages on them.
The movie has what I like to call an emotional aftertaste. The feelings stick with you for a while. That’s how powerful it is. It’s not so much about Christmas as part of the Christmas season. That’s okay because what is Christmas about if not love.
I watch it every year. It really is something special. If you haven’t seen it I hope you give it a try. If you have, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the movie. Happy Viewing!
MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET (1947)
“Miracle on 34th Street” was released in 1947. It stars Edmund Gwenn, Maureen O’Hara, John Payne, and Natalie Wood.
To read my review click here. I want to warn you this blog entry contains spoilers.
This movie is about a man who claims to be Santa Claus. Doris Walker, a Macy’s employee who urgently needs a new Santa employs him not knowing he believes he is the real Santa. Doris doesn’t believe in Santa and has taught her young daughter, Susan, not to believe in anything fantasy. When he is institutionalized as insane for believing himself to be Santa, a young attorney and friend, Fred Gailey, defends him.
We live in a world where we are inundated with information. Children seem to grow up so fast and lose their belief in magic younger and younger. This movie is about maintaining belief in the unbelievable throughout life.
I love watching Susan go through this journey. She’s torn between her mom telling her that Santa isn’t real and wanting to believe that this is the real Santa. She tests him and observes him. It’s really entertaining. Natalie Wood did a wonderful job in this role.
Maureen O’Hara also does a wonderful job. She plays a strong independent woman at a time when women were still considered homemakers. The movie was a bit of a scandal at the time as O’Hara’s character Doris was divorced. As a woman, I love seeing one who is successful, hardworking, but still a good mother and a good person. This character was definitely ahead of her time.
Then there’s Santa. He’s so adorable and expressive. There are moments where he makes me tear up, like when he talks to the girl who doesn’t speak English. He also makes me laugh, like when he learns to blow bubbles with bubble gum.
The movie has you asking if you believe. They mean Santa but I also felt a greater meaning. It’s like it’s asking if you believe in magic, in angels, in all things unproven. Are you a person of faith in the unseen and unprovable? I also love the 1994 remake. The movie keeps the same basic story with a few updates to make it more relevant. Even with the same story it feels like a different movie.
I hope you give one or both of them a try.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on the movie. Happy Viewing!
OUR FIRST CHRISTMAS
“Our First Christmas” was released in 2008. It stars Dixie Carter, Julie Warner, John Ratzenberger, and Steven Eckholdt.
To read my review click here. I want to warn you this blog entry contains spoilers.
This movie is about widower Tom Baer, a school counselor, and his new wife, widow Cindy Noll. Tom has a son and a daughter and Cindy has a daughter. This is about the family trying to blend their two families’ traditions and Cindy’s former mother-in-law trying to find her place in the family.
I’ve decided to change how I do these spotlight movie blogs. Rather than just giving you a rundown of what happens in it, I’m going to tell you why I love it so much.
In today’s society so many of us are familiar with blending families and the compromises that come with it. Our traditions are important to us because they remind us of people we’ve lost and they represent a comforting constant in an ever changing and stressful world.
In this movie, the brunt of this emotion is on the children. Lily and Jacob want to do what they always did with their mother to keep her with them and a part of the holidays while Tory wants to do what she always did with her father for the same reason. I can’t imagine how hard it is to lose a parent when you’re a child and then to have to face giving up on the holiday traditions that make them feel like they’re with you.
The parents are just trying to find a way to make everyone happy. They try desperately to get the children to work with them to find a middle ground but the children have their heels dug in. I can’t blame them. In the same situation I would probably have done the same.
The children devise a plan to make the parents think they are so miserable the only solution is for the family to split for the holidays and each do their own traditions. The best part of this is watching them fall in love with each other as they work together on a shared goal. They realize it won’t be Christmas without each other. They begin to value what they have in the people around them.
All the characters are well-meaning and very likable. The movie has love woven throughout. It’s truly a feel-good movie that exemplifies family and values. I hope you give it a try.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on the movie. Happy Viewing!
SANTA BABY & SANTA BABY 2: CHRISTMAS MAYBE
“Santa Baby” was released in 2006. It stars Jenny McCarthy, George Wendt, and Ivan Sergei. (“Santa Baby 2: Christmas Maybe” is below)
This movie is about Mary Class, a highly successful business executive in New York- who just happens to be the daughter of Santa Claus. But when her father falls ill, Mary returns to the North Pole and the life she left behind to take over for her dad and implement her innovative ideas for running Christmas.
To read my review click here. I want to warn you this blog entry contains spoilers.
This is another funny and warm movie. I never get tired of it
Mary is full of ideas. She is seen doing a pitch for a store (similar to Target) to change it and make it profitable again. She’s clearly a workaholic. Her boyfriend works in the same field and is as focused on work as she is.
When her mom calls to say Santa is ill, she immediately arranges to go home and bring her assistant with her. This is the only problem I have with the story. Santa is immortal. How can he have health problems? In order to get from the town to the secret area where her family lives they have to go by dogsled. The only problem is her ex-boyfriend, the local mail carrier Luke, runs the dogsled.
The North Pole area and buildings are so charming and magical. They are so homey yet so perfect for Santa.
The elves are jolly and sweet but not the sharpest tools in the shed. They add a real comic element to the story.
Mary helping out while her father rests gives her a chance to try out all the ideas she’s been formulating her whole life. This includes adding a machine for toy manufacturing and adding computers.
Needless to say, with the elves being the way they are, things do not go smoothly. To complicate things, her boyfriend Grant shows up. Once he realizes she is Santa’s daughter, he immediately draws up plans to commercialize the space. She begs him not to.
Without the number of toys they need and with Grant traveling back to the city to meet with the board of directors of the company to pitch his North Pole commercial business idea, Santa and Mary are in a jam.
I won’t ruin how they resolve the issue but I will say that Mary learns that she doesn’t have to choose her life in the city or her life at the North Pole. She can be Mary Class and Mary Claus.
At points it is very silly, but there’s drama, family, romance, and plenty of Christmas.
“Santa Baby 2: Christmas Maybe” was released in 2009. Jenny McCarthy returns as Mary Claus/Class but Ivan Sergei’s character of Luke is now played by Dean McDermott and Santa is no longer George Wendt, it is now played by Paul Sorvino. I was okay with McDermott but in my opinion Sorvino was not a good casting choice. If this wasn’t a sequel to a great movie, I wouldn’t recommend it.
In this movie, Santa is in the midst of a "late-life" crisis. He's tired of the responsibilities of the job and he's ready to let his business-minded daughter, Mary, take over. Mary feels torn between the family business, running her own high stakes firm in New York City, and balancing a relationship with Luke. The situation gets even more stressful when Teri, a mysterious and ambitious new-comer to the Pole, decides that she wants to be the new Santa.
To read my review click here. I want to warn you this blog entry contains spoilers.
This sequel picks up with Mary and her boyfriend Luke living in the city. Luke is still a mail carrier and Mary is in the process of merging her company with a large company. Mary is very happy but Luke seems unhappy with everything except being with Mary. The city seems to make him really miss the peaceful atmosphere at the North Pole.
Mary holds a party for her clients. When the band starts playing she sees her dad is a member of the band. This is when she finds out there’s a problem. Her dad says he sent her a letter saying she needed to be there to take over but she never got it.
The next day they all go back to the North Pole. This is where we meet Teri. She has everything working very smoothly. She has implemented new ideas that improved everything. It’s clear that Teri is not happy Mary has shown up to take over.
Teri does everything she can to sabotage Mary. It seems Teri wanted to be the new Santa. We don’t find out the full reason why until the end.
Meanwhile, Luke is feeling at home again and decides he wants to stay there and not go back to the city. Mary goes without him.
I won’t spoil the ending but of course they resolve everything. Like I said, I don’t like this one nearly as much as the first but together they are enjoyable.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on the movies. Happy Viewing!
SNOWGLOBE
“Snowglobe” was released in 2007. It stars Christina Milian, Lorraine Bracco, Erin Karpluk, and Josh Cooke.
This movie is about a woman named Angela, who lives in New York, who is magically transported into a snow globe that is her dream Christmas town.
To read my review click here. I want to warn you this blog entry contains spoilers.
I see this movie numerous times every year. I just love it.
Angela is part of a very involved family. Extremely involved. To the point she is begging for space. She lives in the apartment building her parents own, as does her pregnant sister and the sister’s husband, her parents, and her uncle. She also works, along with her best friend, at her parents’ deli. Her family gives the movie heart but also a lot of humor.
At the very beginning she comes home to a delivery of a box and finds a gentleman, Eddie, in need of help figuring out the building elevator. It turns out he is the new renter for the studio apartment down the hall from hers. It seems her parents have a habit of only renting to eligible men in the hopes of getting Angela married. Their pressure on her is not subtle.
She walks into her apartment and is soon inundated with family members taking over. We get a clue of her love of Christmas because she even has special Christmas dishes.
When she goes to sleep that night with the snow globe next to her, she wakes up in the snow globe. There’s ice skating, an inn where they have Christmas goose instead of the lasagna her family insists on. Everyone is nice and everything seems perfect until she wakes up back at home.
The next night when travels to the snow globe, a gentleman, Douglas, gives her mittens. When she wakes up at home, she still has the mittens. This is when she figures out they aren’t dreams.
We then watch as Angela goes back and forth between her developing interest in Eddie, in the real world, and Douglas in the snow globe. Slowly she spends more and more time in the snow globe. She even misses her sister’s baby shower.
Flash forward to the night the family is having dinner in her apartment and Douglas walks out of her bedroom. He somehow got out of the snow globe and introduces himself as her boyfriend. It becomes comedic as she shows him around New York because everything is new to him.
The next day she has to ask Eddie to babysit Douglas because he can’t be left alone and she has to work. As the story continues, Angela tells Eddie about the snow globe and Marie, the woman from the snow globe who loves Douglas, finds her way out of the snow globe.
Now they have to figure out how to get Douglas and Marie home and Angela has decided she wants to be in the real world with Eddie and her family. Small problem happens when the snow globe breaks and Angela is trapped inside.
Of course, there’s a happy ending. I won’t give away all the details. I know the story sounds really weird and a little dumb but it’s not. It’s fabulous. It’s lighthearted and joyous with a cast of characters you can’t help but love.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on the movie. Happy Viewing!
YES, VIRGINIA, THERE IS A SANTA CLAUS
“Yes, Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus” was released in 1991. It stars Richard Thomas, Ed Asner, and Charles Bronson.
To read my review click here. I want to warn you this blog entry contains spoilers.
Inspired by the famous 1897 editorial that has become a holiday staple, Yes Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus tells the story of young Virginia O'Hanlan.
Why do I think this movie is special? It manages to give us a glimpse of another time while staying family friendly in the same way Little House On The Prairie is.
There are two stories going at the same time. The first is the O’Hanlan family and all the people around them. It shows a glimpse of what life would be like for an Irish family in the 1890s. The poverty, the struggle to find work, and the prejudices. It also shows the love the family has for each other and their friends and neighbors.
The other is the life of Francis Church who lost his wife about a year ago. He’s a newspaper reporter working for his editor, Edward Mitchell. Francis has developed a drinking problem. He struggles with the fact that he was gone traveling so often for work and wasn’t even there with his wife when she passed. I know so many of us have times in our lives where something happens that tests our coping mechanisms and we sometimes make poor choice. In Church’s case, Mitchell is there for him to help him. It’s nice to see someone care enough to overstep but to guide gently and let Church get things back in order with his pride intact.
The whole concept of the true story of Virginia O’Hanlan is just lovely. I love that an 8-year-old girl wanted to believe in Santa so badly, despite her friends saying he didn’t exist. Writing to a newspaper and having them reply is just magical. I can only imagine that young girl reading that paper and seeing it read that there is a Santa Claus. How amazing that must have felt for her.
While the story of Virginia writing to the editor and the editor replying is true, a lot of the surrounding story is fictional to create an interesting movie. According to one biography, her father was a doctor as opposed to the poor man searching for work in the movie.
I really love seeing life before TV, radio, and technology separated us. People really focused on each other. I think this is not only a great family movie but it could open communication about history and maybe spark an interest in it in a child.
If you haven’t seen it I hope you give it a try. If you have, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the movie. Happy Viewing!
