Sorry, this movie sucks

Simply A Masterpiece

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

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

Pleasant fantasy tale for the whole family. Nine-year-old Rebecca(Jessica Riggs)still believes in Santa despite the nay saying of her father(Sam Elliott) and the teasing from her friends. She finds an ailing reindeer in a remote part of the forest and she knows she will have to help the animal heal in secrecy...in her father's barn. Her father John is a no-nonsense apple farmer and knows some hay is mysteriously missing before discovering for himself the ailing deer his daughter has dubbed Prancer. The town's recluse(Cloris Leachman)lets Rebecca do odd jobs around her house in order to earn money to speed the deer's recovery. Prancer seems to have the ability to vanish rather rapidly and then reappear...he truly must be one of Santa's revered eight tiny reindeer. Also in the cast: Abe Vigoda, Michael Constantine, John Duda and Rutanya Alda.

In general, I think Christmas has lost its meaning for most people. Now, the main goal of the holidays seems to be to spend as much money as possible. In the process, people lose sight of the fact that we are celebrating the birth of the Son of God. I try hard not to get too wrapped up in the frenzy of the commercialization of Christmas. So, I try to find ways to make my season peaceful and meaningful. Prancer is one of the joys of the season for me. It's themes about keeping faith in the face of all those who don't believe, love overcoming hard luck, and courageously facing loss as a way of dealing with it are timeless. Rebecca Harrell as Jessica Riggs is the star of this movie, and Sam Elliot couldn't have been cast in a better role. During the holidays, I try to find one evening to build a crackling fire, sip hot chocolate, and settle down to watch Prancer. It has become my favorite Christmas movie, and one of my favorite movies of all time. What makes it even more precious is that it was filmed near my home, in LaPorte, Indiana. The beautiful snowy fields, orchards and woods filmed in the movie are just outside my door! I hope you all enjoy Prancer as much as I do!

Not many peop;e remember this movie. Most of my friends have never even heard of it. But at my house, it has always been a huge part of Christmas. Every year we watch it. I think its a beautiful story about believing in Santa (or, Prancer). I love the father, and how in the end he ends up believing to. Or at least, helping Jessica believe. I'm surprised that this one isn't up there with "A Christmas Story". It should be. I love the excerpts from The Virgina Letter. I've been watchign this movie since i was born (literaly) It was made the year i was born. And i will continue to watch it with my children, and grand children.

Some occasionally clumsy dialogue only mildly undercuts the virtues of Greg Taylor's thoughtful script, which provides a surprisingly realistic depiction of the joys and heartaches of simple lives at Christmastime.Rebecca Harrell is superb as 9-year-old Jessica, who finds an injured reindeer in the woods near her Michigan farm and determines to nurse it back to health in time to help pull Santa's sleigh on Christmas Eve. She's a marvelously realized character, refreshingly minus the cute kid mannerisms of many a Hollywood acting tyke. I particularly liked the way she deflected her father's tirades with her singlemindedness of purpose: he might get mad at her, but she was still going to do what she had to do. Very childlike, and very real.A subplot about Jessica's helping a reclusive, eccentric neighbor (played by Cloris Leachman in a virtual cameo) seems truncated and unnecessary, but for the most part Taylor's scenario sticks to the basics and is better for it. Characters surrounding Jessica act like real people, not stereotypes, and events transpire with a sense of realism, not melodrama.Credit for this tale's effectiveness also goes to Sam Elliott, who plays Jessica's father, a recent widower, with a harsh demeanor that seems to mask real pain and desperation. Thus his rapprochement with his wayward daughter carries unexpected depth of feeling and could not fail to move all but the most cynical. For a dad like me, I admit it put a big lump in my throat.Despite a somewhat flawed climax -- to my mind, the vfx shot of Santa's sleigh coursing across the sky is unnecessary, given the magic moment just prior to it that reveals reindeer hoofprints leading to a precipice -- this nice little holiday film delivers a timeless message about faith and selflessness. Recommended for mature kids of 8 or older.