That was an excellent one.

Don't Believe the Hype

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

It seems people have either loved or hated this movie. I watched it for the first time recently with my kids, as I have a soft spot for 1980's family movies. The movie had some promise, but was very confusing.First, I loved the cinematic style of the film. The images of Christmas lights, snow falling and suburban life in the 80ies are very beautiful. I also appreciate the fact that in the movies of the period of 1980ies to early 90ies the life of ordinary people people is treated with great respect, unlike in most modern flicks. The struggling family which is at the center of the plot is very likable. The movie also has an important message that Christmas spirit can be found in the middle of the challenges of ordinary life.On the other hand, however, the angel plot is treated in a very confusing manner. As a theologian I might point out that dead people do not become angels. That might be beside the point, as the movie apparently tries to be a magical children's tale in this respect. But when the theological idea, that an angel is sent by God, is replaced by an angel sent by Santa Claus, the result becomes quite confusing: Apparently good people are sent to the North Pole when they die, to work at Santa's Factory. Santa then has these people in his service as Christmas Angels, who he can send to other people to raise Christmas spirit. However: If the dead people go to Santa, why is it, that Santa is unable to bring the dead father of the family back to life? Or at least, send him back as another Christmas angel? Moreover, is the North Pole a place existing in the real word, or some kind of magical place accessible only with the help of an angel? These questions were not thought through, and because of this, the 'metaphysical' structure that functions as the staring point of the story is weird and non-functional. One can of course say that one should not take these points seriously, but because they are important for the central plot issue of bringing the dead father back alive, they unfortunately cannot be dismissed.Moreover, many people, including me, were quite confused with what actually did happen at the conclusion of the story. I take it that time was reversed to the point where Ginny and Jack departed on their evening walk and Ginny met the angel, giving her a second opportunity to make the same choices, this time right, as happens in the movie Groudhog Day. The movie also resembles the famous Christmas classic It's a Wonderful life. The other option would be that the bad things which happened were some kind of a dream caused by the angel, so that they did not actually happen at all. With this answer one could skip some of the metaphysical questions regarding the rule of Santa over the dead and the nature of the North Pole. However, the problem is, that what happened is not clearly explained. The viewer is left with confusion regarding the mode of the conclusion. This is especially bad as the movie is nevertheless aimed at young children and portrays very tragic events. The parent cannot tell the kids what happened, if he or she does not understand it either.I would have very much wanted to the like the movie more than I can, as the foundational message is very important. However, in an attempt to escape a serious exploration of the topic of angels the movie is built on so confusing 'metaphysical' assumptions regarding the capabilities of angels and Santa, that it is almost impossible to get a coherent picture of what actually happens in the movie. In other words, though the message is good, the means used to deliver it do not work.

Ginny Grainger is seriously depressed, simple as that. Her husband lost his job and the house months ago, but he's a kind, poetic soul who can't really be bothered with mundane issues like being poor and homeless. Ginny is not a Grinch or a Scrooge, literally the only reason why she values money so much is because her husband won't, and right now it's up to her to make sure her kids don't starve. How fair is it to be mad at someone who works her awful retail job until late at night on Christmas Eve, when the alternative is getting fired as well? Or for not letting her husband touch their very last meager savings to open the bike shop he vaguely dreams about? And still, she tries to be there for her family and not spoil the holidays for the little ones too much, no matter how hopeless and empty inside she is herself.A woman like that would need a lot more appreciation from her loved ones and some "me" time, stat. But no, according to old St. Nick what she needs is a serious lesson in Christmas Spirit! She won't even say "Merry Christmas!" How dares she be so bitter and disenchanted? Not on his watch! So he sends her Gideon, a "Christmas Angel" who wears a creepy black coat, never cracks a smile, looks all the time like he's really uncomfortable with his job, likes to stalk people, approaches children in secret at night (STRANGER DANGER!) and only ever does the bare minimum his job requires.During what is no doubt her worst Christmas Eve in the history of ever, Ginny finds out her husband is taking their savings behind her back, gets fired, faces her husband only to see him randomly getting shot and dying in her arms, has her kids kidnapped by the guy who already killed her husband only to see them fall off a bridge into the river. After believing for several, agonizing hours that the children are dead too, Gideon FINALLY decides to do something with his magic powers and returns them to her. At this point, after everything that already happened, poor Ginny has to find the strength to sit down and explain to her two small children that their dad was killed and he's never gonna come back.Gideon then straight up kidnaps the little girl and flies her to meet Santa at the North Pole (spoiler alert: Santa's workers are not elves, they're zombies!), thus making Ginny spend her Christmas night in a panic, frantically looking for her ONCE AGAIN missing six year old. But then the kid comes back bringing a letter from Santa, and suddenly all is fixed as Ginny realizes that magic is real and all she ever needed to do was to believe and smile and suck it up even more to her already unbearable family situation! She is magically taken back in time where her husband is still alive and she gets to relive Christmas Eve and make all the right choices, nominally saying "to hell with my job" and burning all their last savings too while she's at it. I guess if they end up homeless, at least they had one hell of a Christmas. Eventually a brand new, happy Ginny meets Santa under the tree, and finally gets to thank the man who just made an already depressed woman live through the most cruel, traumatic series of event ever, just to teach her a lesson about magic. Or, as I choose to believe, Ginny is so traumatized after seeing her whole family die that she hallucinates Gideon and Santa to give herself a happy ending and a little peace of mind before the years and years of therapy she will no doubt need.

Read on and take note - you could save 88 minutes of your life (was that all!).Unremittingly bleak, this film sets out to produce (I'm guessing) a modern small town American Christmas fable in the Capra style. If fails....completely and absolutely fails. I've been trying to think of one good thing about it and can't. Let me mention some of the highlights ...People don't die, they get to spend eternity as immigrant workers in Santa's factory. Angels are actually ex-cowboys who sit in trees. Santa can bring people back from the dead (if you send him a nice letter). And the plot.. I won't spoil it for you but there has to be some light in films if only to contrast with the darkness but there isn't any. Even the photography is bleak - snow shown at the end of a freeze, everywhere looking cold, damp and miserable. As you might guess, the film has a happy (schmaltzy) ending. What a relief !

I absolutely love this movie. I have been looking for it for a long time. Great to finally find it, awesome. Every year when Christmas comes around i think about this movie and for the life of me i can never remember the name of it. The only thing that i can remember is that the Angel's name is Gideon. I am hoping now that i have actually written the name of the movie down that i can go out there and purchase it somewhere so that i can put it away every year after Christmas after watching it with my family and also showing it to other families also. It is good to know now that if i am having trouble finding a movie i can always come to this site and share my information about what i know and what i would like to know.