Matialth
Good concept, poorly executed.
Beanbioca
As Good As It Gets
Gurlyndrobb
While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.
Christmas-Reviewer
BEWARE OF BOGUS REVIEWS. SOME REVIEWERS HAVE ONLY ONE REVIEW. WHEN ITS A POSITIVE REVIEW THAT TELLS ME THEY WERE INVOLVED WITH THE PRODUCTION. IF ITS A NEGATIVE REVIEW THEN THEY MIGHT HAVE A GRUDGE AGAINST THAT PRODUCTION. NOW I HAVE REVIEWED OVER 200 Christmas MOVIES. I HAVE NO AGENDA. I AM FARE ABOUT THESE FILMS.This film is not a ripoff of "It's a Wonderful Life". That is a topic that someone started on IMDb message board. I can assure that it may of drawn inspiration from that film but it has more in common with "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore". In this film a woman finds herself suddenly single after she wakes up one day and finds out her husband has just ran off with another woman. She takes off to in a car and end ups in a small town where she ends up living a motel and becomes an overnight waitress at a local restaurant.You can check off all the boxes on the Christmas movie check off list with this film but that doesn't mean this isn't a good film it really is a nice film to see. The on camera talent is above average. It is enjoyable. Most of all it shows that it is better to give than to receive. To many people the plot may seem "Unbelievable" but trust me in small towns people really do help each other. They know how to be good neighbors. I am a liberal but trust me "The South" has many good decent hard working and caring people.
tashinaknight
This might be a positive or negative review, depending on beliefs.Overall, the movie was pretty mediocre TV-movie fare, with a couple better then normal actors. I'll watch almost any Hallmark Channel style Christmas movie while I surf the internet. I'm not terribly picky - some turn out to be surprisingly good, some are just terrible. I rarely have to just give up on one.This one I did. If I were religious, I think I would have given it a 6 out of 10 by the end. I am generally tolerant of a certain amount of religion in a movie, but this one was just over the top and preachy (and not just religious, but go-to-church religious). I started to fast forward those bits, but finally turned it off. If you are not solidly a religious church going person, I'd recommend giving it a pass.If you are, I think you'll like it. It's nothing special, but not a bad example of the genre.TL;DR: every 5-10 minutes there was another religious segment.
Red Death
When first seeing the DVD case, I assumed it was going to be boring, preachy and needlessly heavy handed in being so. I was correct, unfortunately, yet I was still unprepared for the horrible acting, scripting and execution. The movie can be summarized as follows: women loses husband, moves, settles in new town, goes through a bunch of contrived and boring crap, only to finally get help after praying. The problem is that there is no sign any of it had anything to do with god. The villagers were already helping her almost as much as the government support programs she should have swallowed her pride and gotten for the sake of her children. There was no surprise when she got the financial support and room, which is why it makes no sense as to why she believed it was from god. Clearly, whoever made this had a religious agenda. Maybe her husband would have stayed with her if she had an actual personality.I personally felt this movie lacked a few things, such as a decent script, decent actors and an engaging story. Kick-Ass, by virtue of a capable director and decent acting would be a better choice for the family. Sure, it may not be appropriate, but at least they will be entertained. As a plus, the humor there is intentional, and it works.For this reason, I cannot recommend that you buy this movie. The only thing they got right was holding the camera still, and given that most movies are shot on a mounted camera, even that may be giving it too much credit. Maybe not, considering that if they are making back 100 times their budget each time they sell one DVD, maybe they couldn't afford a mounted camera.All in all, lacking even unintentional humor or talent on the part of anyone involved, this travesty fails even as "so bad its horrible material". It isn't something I willingly watched, actively though unsuccessfully trying to avoid it. If you like boring, contrived, sappy, pointless and irritating movies so bad they fail to even provoke the bile fascination caused by Birdemic, this movie is for you. But if you are a normal person, watching this should be akin to an arachnophobe seeing a spider the size of a dog. That you would avoid it at all costs and never look at it again.
emaureen
The drama rose above the clichés because of excellent performances all around, especially by Kristy Swanson. There was enough material, and enough characters (mostly endearing), for a regular TV series spanning a year. This single mom had a TERRIBLE two weeks. My only regret was the inevitability of everything winding up in a hurry.I got a laugh from the review saying that at 42, Swanson was too old to play the part of someone who should be around 30. For this role, you need someone who might be thirty but who shows the prematurely ageing effects of too much worry and too many sleepless nights. I thought she was perfect. Lots of good characters, so this Hallmark Christmas movie is recommended. However, I'd steer clear of the menu at the diner, far too much gravy.
