Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

Such a frustrating disappointment

Your blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

This Christmas fable makes no pretense at realism, though the largely unknown cast do very well in realistically portraying their characters in situations which are constantly hovering on the edge of fantasy. Peter Falk plays a mysterious 'Christmas angel' who pops up in many guises throughout the story, gently pushing people along to help them resolve their problems. In some instances, he goes over the edge and becomes silly (such as being the guard of a fire engine), and his costumes are very poor and cheapen his value, but as the story moves along, he gets into his stride and adds a dimension of magic to the tale, through sheer warm-hearted professionalism. The heart of the story is that a young man was so shaken by a tragic fire incident (he had been a heroic fireman, saving many lives) that he dropped out, abandoned his mother and sister, left town and disappeared for years. The story is all about his coming to terms with his past, and his sister's determined efforts to persuade him to rejoin his family and rejoin life as well. This is a perfectly harmless family movie where people are not slitting throats, firing guns, or copulating on camera, so that one hardly believes one is in contemporary times. They are just living, but magic enters their lives as they struggle with their problems. People who criticize this film for being a bit corny and sentimental should better spend their time criticizing the wicked films instead, where everybody gets murdered and raped and tortured. After all, there is nothing wrong with people making pleasant films once in a while, even if they are not great art. Nor does great art always have to involve graphic sex and violence. The people who claim they are only being 'realistic' by wanting to pour blood and gore all over the screen are deeply sick people, and we should not be supporting them. We should not be ashamed of some honest sentiment, or lack of realism, if it doesn't hurt anybody!

I watched this in July and even with the Christmas theme, found it touching and sensitive. It is not for someone with a reality-mind as it is full of fantasy and lovely moments that sometimes don't make sense. William Russ did a grand job as Hank. I have only seen him in the remake of The Long, Hot Summer where he played a weak character. But in this one, the expression in his eyes throughout, as Hank considered the things that were happening to him, was wonderful and tender. Valerie Bertinelli was excellent and lovely as usual and very believable in this role. And Peter Falk as Max was splendid and always brought a smile when he appeared in a number of important scenes. There were many special scenes, including the one where Hank realizes who Max really was in his life. It's not for everyone.....especially those who aren't into 'feel-good' movies and this is definitely one! If you like everything to be perfect and make sense, avoid this one. But I think it is well-worth re-watching, which is why I taped it. (Yes, some of us still have VCRs. :)

A wonderful movie with a definite direction on where it wants to take the viewer. I loved the sub plots. The element of surprise that came with Noah's revelation to Hank was wonderful. Peter Falk's Max was the balance check that prevented any overflow of sugar. At times the character of Max was a bit much. Much of the character's dialogue was to deflect when the opposite character begins to figure things out, however, the technique began to get overbearing. It wasn't until the hand on the shoulder "it's good to see you again" to Hank that I felt that all of the information was revealed.The movie deserves a good sequel so we can see what happens in Hank's life and of course Kathleen, Noah and the kid.

Kathleen is a divorced nurse who lives with her mother. Her hospital's emergency room may have to close because of a $100,000 deficit. And her brother Hank has been missing for 25 years, but one day she believes she sees his picture on the front page of the Bay City Tribune. Noah, who took the picture, is curious about why the man wearing part of a Santa Claus suit is missing from the picture.After the man in the picture saves someone's life, the newspaper makes finding 'John Christmas' a priority, offering a $50,000 reward. Kathleen, who is also organizing a talent show fund-raiser for the hospital, wants to find the man as well. She meets Noah, who has a 12-year-old daughter, Socorro (Jennifer Pisana), who is a good singer and likes Kathleen (and her father is single!).And then there is the second mystery man, the one whose image did not appear in the photo. He keeps showing up, playing a different role each time. But no one has ever heard of the security guard at the fire station (he's also a janitor at the hospital, among other things). Eventually, we find out his name is Max.Peter Falk was wonderful as Max, though he wasn't on very much. He reminded me a lot of Lt. Columbo in his mannerisms and speaking style. One of the movie's highlights was a duet between Max and Socorro which was not part of the talent show, but should have been. And Jennifer Pisana is quite a singer, and not a bad actor. Of course, Valerie Bertinelli is always good, though not great. I've liked her ever since 'One Day at a Time'. Her character is quite idealistic and believes anything is possible, even if obstacles get in the way.The film is occasionally funny. One of the people trying out for the talent show is a surgeon who juggles the tools of his trade. Overall, though, this is a feel-good movie despite some depressing moments, and some situations that are just plain upsetting. The end result is a good movie about the holiday season.