A Christmas Wish (2011)

I spend a lot of my time watching certain kinds of Christmas movies. There are the Christmas horrors (of which we now have SO many to choose from), the Christmas films aimed at kids (either animated or focusing on Santa, or just mixing in some adorable pets), and the Christmas films that make up the overwhelming majority nowadays - the safe and inoffensive products churned out every year by Hallmark and ABC and the like. In fact, it's easy for me to forget that there are other kinds of Christmas movies out there. Films with a deeply religious message, the many action movies penned by Shane Black (okay, some count more than others), and those that deliver a message about kindness and love by making you watch a main character get put through the wringer for almost an entire 80 minutes before using the finale to set things right. A Christmas Wish falls firmly in the latter camp.

Kristy Swanson stars as Martha Evans, a struggling mother of three children. She has been placed in that position, just days before Christmas, by a husband who decided to abscond with all of their money. Which is why she heads off for a fresh start, trying to do her best by her children (despite one constantly reminding her that she isn't his real mother), booking into a motel room, and taking on a very low-paid position in a diner owned by a kind woman who would love to help more, but just can't.

Written and directed by Craig Clyde, A Christmas Wish may not be surprising or slick, or even that overflowing with festive cheer, but it is a surprisingly effective and moving little film. As well as the plot details mentioned, you have the potential for romance, a car that decides to break down at the most inconvenient time, a dilemma about living arrangements, and problems ensuring that the children are looked after.

Swanson does well in an unglamorous role, although she still manages to shine without outshining the character she is playing, and the cast also includes Edward Herrmann as a grumpy diner customer who takes a liking to her character, Tess Harper as the aforementioned kindly diner owner, K. C. Clyde as a handsome and sweet local guy, and some decent child actors (particularly Kevin Herring III and Kristin Dorn). There are also good turns from Mike Hagerty, Page Petrucka, Star Herrmann, and many of the other supporting players.

I must have had problems with needles falling off my Christmas tree this year because, just before the end credits started to roll, I felt a little something in my eye. Yeah, it must have been the tree. That is the only explanation. Because there's no way that a TV movie like this would put a lump in my throat and make my eyes so watery. Nuh uh. No way.

6/10

Here is a large selection of Christmas movies to enjoy.
And American elves can pick the same set up here.

Christmas Angel (2009)

Kari Hawker plays Ashley Matthews, a young woman who doesn't seem to have too many decent prospects on her horizon while others are preparing to enjoy Christmas. But not everyone will be having a good time. In fact, some people will be doing even worse than Ashley, even if she doesn't want to think about them. It turns out that her older neighbour, Nick (Bruce Davison), does enough thinking about the less fortunate for the both of them. He's a rich man who likes to do good deeds, and he needs a helper. As Ashley processes this new information, and starts to help Nick, she also meets Will (K. C. Clyde). Will seems like a nice guy, despite the fact that he's also a journalist who may sense a great story involving Ashley and Nick.

Christmas Angel is, like so many other movies now jostling for position in the viewing schedules at this time of year, a perfectly fine slice of snow-covered schmaltz. It's pretty harmless, and also pretty hard to praise or criticise to any great degree. I liked it, in the sense that I didn't really dislike it. The fact that this tends to be my default position with any movie, a starting point that I assume any movie will either improve upon or make a bit (sometimes a lot) worse.

Hawker, Davison and Clyde all do well enough in their roles, and none of the supporting cast cause any major problems. The potential relationship between Hawker and Clyde is given the expected unsteady beginning, with the former giving the latter a hard time because . . . . . that just seems to be the way she is, but the way the characters develop throughout the movie is quite nicely handled.

Brittany Wiscombe and Scott Champion are responsible for the screenplay, and therefore responsible for that character development. They do a good job, ladling on the Christmas sugar while attempting to offset the overwhelming sweetness with little moments of acidity. They don't quite do enough, there's just no way I can say that this isn't a bit of a schmaltz-fest, but they manage to make it better than it could have been. If this had featured an Ashley Matthews who was a bit younger, and quicker to believe in Christmas "miracles", then it would have been a real slog.

Director Brian Brough doesn't really have to do much, or so it seems. The camera keeps everyone in the frame, there are many reminders that everything is taking place at Christmas, and everything is laid out simply and efficiently enough, from A to B to C.

Yet another in a long line of seasonal movies that you'll forget about as soon as the big day has come and gone, Christmas Angel is sweet and earnest and eminently disposable. I tend to repeat myself when it comes to reviewing these movies, which is something I worried about until I remembered that most of these films repeat themselves anyway.

5/10

http://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Angel-Bruce-Davison/dp/B002LVGXHK/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1418067960&sr=1-1&keywords=christmas+angel

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