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Audience Rating: G (General Audience)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9780764007224
Format: Collector's Edition, Color, Letterboxed, Original recording remastered, Special Edition, Widescreen, NTSC
ISBN: 076400722X
Label: Starz / Anchor Bay
Manufacturer: Starz / Anchor Bay
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Starz / Anchor Bay
Release Date: August 31, 1999
Running Time: 88 minutes
Sales Rank: 50622
Studio: Starz / Anchor Bay
Theatrical Release Date: November 22, 1985
Editorial Review:
Amazon.com:
Grab an econo-pack of tissues, gather your loved ones around a cozy television, and bring on the hot cocoa--it's time for a dose of Christmas spirit. The tender and charming Mary Steenburgen (Parenthood) dons a sour disposition in her role as Ginny Grainger, a woman who finds little joy in life lately--let alone in the impending holiday season. Money is tight, her husband (beautifully downplayed by nice-guy Gary Basaraba) lost his job, and the family must move out of their house. Ginny cannot even bring herself to say, 'Merry Christmas,' despite her family's enthusiasm about the big day. With help from Ginny's brave and loving daughter (sweetly performed by Elisabeth Harnois) and a Christmas angel named Gideon (Harry Dean Stanton), Ginny undergoes a life-altering experience à la It's a Wonderful Life. The result? Happy endings, hugs and kisses, pass the tissues.
Not a light holiday entertainer by any means, the plot verges on depressing at times, as the family struggles through money issues and the tedium of daily suburban survival. While handled fairly subtly, some of the bridging story--including a shooting, a kidnapping, and a drowning--might prove disturbing to children under 6 years old. And really: if the somber Harry Dean Stanton (Paris, Texas) repeatedly appeared in your neighborhood, cloaked in a cowboy hat and overcoat, would you allow your kids outside? Still, a well-made favorite to cherish. --Liane Thomas
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Christmas Classic Tear Jerker
This spirit of the season is what this movie is all about. Yes it get dark and stressful but there is a purpose to it and it is not gratuitous.
Rating: - My children laugh...my husband sighs...
but I simply HAVE to watch (what my teen-aged daughters dubbed, "Kids Fall in the River and Drown") this movie every single Christmas. I know of no better movie to imbue one with the true thankfulness and appreciation that is the Christmas Spirit than this gritty, occasionally depressing, but ultimately redemptive and glorious film.
Some years we watch with too much empathy (years when we've faced financial insecurity or lost loved ones). Other years we watch with abundant gratitude ... Read More
Rating: - Wonderful Christmas movie!!
What a wonderful movie! There are so many things to love, but the standout for me is the little girl. She is adorable and her little voice is so sweet. Mary Steenburgen is fantastic as a mother who has lost her Christmas spirit, but, thankfully, does find it again in the end. I love most Christmas movies, but there's something about this one -- makes me feel nostalgic. I highly recommend this movie!
Rating: - One Magic Christmas
This has always been one of my favorite Christmas movies...a reminder of what is most important - the loved ones in our lives-- and how easy it is to get caught up in the miseries of the world - and forget the Magic.
Rating: - Don't Miss this Christmas Classic
This is a heartwarming tale heralded by the critics when originally released. This is a story of an over-worked Mom in a middle-class family that has lost the spirit of Christmas. An unlikely angel is sent to help her recapture the magic of Christmas. After many years I could no longer find it on television. I was thrilled when I found the DVD on Amazon!
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