It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Middle-aged housewife Linda Hamilton (as Julie) is left by her husband for a much younger blonde. A series of unfortunate events leads the divorced and deserted Ms. Hamilton to become homeless. She meets similarly down-on-her-luck, but still beautiful-looking Brenda M. Crichlow (as Selma James) and they become friends. Living in her car agrees with Hamilton as she begins to get her act together. She dates exceptionally good-looking doctor Rob Stewart (as Michael Stern), after becoming acquainted with his lovable father Campbell Lane (as Max). The older man's characterization lifts this implausible TV Movie up a notch. Hamilton, who looks better homeless than she does in the early scenes, is unable to pull her part off; for one thing, she is made to play a seemingly intelligent woman who handles circumstances like she has no life experiences. Of course, there may be some divine intervention at work – like the Spirit of Christmas...**** Home by Christmas (12/25/06) Gail Harvey ~ Linda Hamilton, Rob Stewart, Brenda M. Crichlow, Campbell Lane

If you love Christmas movies like I do, this is one of the best. It's a feel good movie with an interesting story. Linda Hamilton plays Julie, whose husband leaves her for a younger woman. Over time she looses everything and is forced to live in her car. Her daughter goes overseas for extended schooling but makes the decision to come home for Christmas. Now Julie scrabbles to find a place for both of them to spend the Holidays together. Julie makes new friends and slowly gets back on her feet. Her friend Max is a great character and they hep each other out. Julie's new relationship with Selma, a woman who has been in the same homeless situation, proves to be her lifesaver. It's a riches-to-rags-to-riches story, one of my favorites concepts especially during the holidays.

This movie seems to have been written by a very young, idealistic person with very little sense of reality. He or she makes it look fairly comfortable to be homeless. The other homeless woman is always cheerful, they get their hair done at a beauty salon, have regular workouts, nice clothes, good food to eat. We never see them really suffering other than one brief moment in which the character looks a little cold in her car... after a lovely date with a handsome man. I think it does a disservice to truly homeless people. In addition, it is so unrealistic that the woman would have settled for such a small amount of money from her well-off husband after 20+ years of marriage. It also seems unlikely that the $15,000 in her bank account could have so easily been cashed out by her mugger. That big of a withdrawal would usually involve some scrutiny, I would think.

Home by Christmas starts out fairly predictable and depressing, with Linda Hamilton's character being cheated on by her husband and then going through a series of (certainly plausible) extremely hard and devastating times. But, as the movie progresses, there is a lot of laughter, lessons and a really nice and touching story that makes this movie thoroughly enjoyable. You really want to cheer the title character on and see if she can pull herself out of the situations that have befallen her. She makes some wonderful friends and the cast is very enjoyable to watch, as are the majority of the scenes with their interaction. The title, 'Home By Christmas', alludes to the fact that the mom is, once again, trying to provide a stable environment for her daughter to live in by the time she comes home for C-mas from a trip.