Sorry, this movie sucks

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Had this been a movie just about a church choir coming together to produce Handel's Messiah, it could have been something notable and watchable. But "A Christmas Without Snow" has so many mini-plots and diversions that they detract even from the music. This film is a hodgepodge. It's slow moving, and we get just snapshots of the myriad characters – all of whom seem to have problems, if not pathos in their past. The dull, aimless plot kills this movie. It tries to include everything, and thus does little justice to anything. So, while the acting is OK, the story seems forced. Was CBS trying to make a politically correct – for the time – Christmas story? By putting too much in and trying to be all- inclusive, CBS wound up with a film that gives so little. But for the music – the singing that the film does have, it wouldn't earn even the four stars I give it. I fell asleep three times watching this on DVD. I can't imagine it holding the interest of children at all. While there aren't that many great Christmas films, many good ones have been made over the years. "A Christmas Without Snow" is a film best forgotten.

Zoe is a divorced woman who moves to San Francisco to start a new life. She's left her son with her mom while she gets situated. Zoe decides to join a very small church choir. They have just hired a strong minded choirmaster. Even though they are just amateurs, he demands perfection from the members. They are a quirky group, who we get to know as the movie progresses. After going through personal issues with members and the choirmaster, a broken organ and other small dramas, she isn't sure its worth staying in the choir. She hopes she made the right decision to stay. Their performance of the Messiah, looks like it may not happen when and unfortunate incident happens just before Christmas. The movie is a little slow, but if you enjoy a nice little movie, with an interesting story line, good acting and enjoy listening to Handel's Messiah (which is sung throughout the movie), you will enjoy it.

I saw this movie when it first premiered, and missed it ever since. I only recently found it on a DVD, packaged with a collection of other Xmas specials. It was wonderful seeing it again, despite the fact that no attempt was made to restore the now seriously degraded film before digital transfer.I remember two great TV Christmas films from my childhood and youth. One was The Gathering, which starred Ed Asner. The other was A Christmas without Snow. Both movies captured the spirit of Christmas from a time when the season was about faith, community and family, and reflection, rather than shopping, decorating and gluttony.A Christmas without Snow is a charming film about the true meaning of Christmas, and the fact that keeping that meaning is rarely easy, but always rewarding. And the reward is, or should be, a sense of quiet satisfaction and contentment.

This seemingly forgotten telefilm is far and away better that the current crop of yuletide dreck being offered by the likes of the Hallmark Channel and various others. A Christmas Without Snow offers a great cast, intelligent writing, and characters we care about. As other reviews have stated, Michael Learned plays a divorcée starting over in San Francisco who, in an attempt to find some stability, joins a church choir which is about to attempt an ambitious mounting of Handel's Messiah. John Houseman is the no-nonsense director who demands perfection from his choir. As the choir progresses toward its performance of the musical masterpiece, we gain insight into the lives and personalities of various members. What other reviewers have missed is the sense of community among the diverse parishioners/choir members, something that reflects positively on the traditional Christian church. In almost vignette-type fashion, we get to know these people, their loves, hopes, hurts, and see them rally together to tackle the Messiah and also the various problems they encounter as a church and as individuals. There are no quick fixes, no tidy happy endings. Yet these people have each other and the satisfaction of working hard at their endeavors. There's support, there's love, and there's a lot that is healthy and thriving and growing. Intelligent and life-affirming without being syrupy. Recommended.