Signed, Sealed, Delivered for Christmas

Ever since I watched "The Crow - Salvation" I've been a fan of Eric Mabius' acting as his portrayal of a "Crow" was one of my favourite, second to Brandon Lee.

I've not seen him in anything for quite a while, then I saw he was in this movie called Lost Letter Mysteries for Xmas (English Title). And what a joy it was.

In his role as Oliver O'Toole, he plays a stoic, straight-laced, upright, and honourable postal worker, who thinks nothing of going the extra mile to do the job right.

I loved the idea of a team of postal workers sorting through undelivered or undeliverable letters with the purpose of giving help. Even though, I now know, this is part of a series this Christmas episode works well by itself. It's well written and the direction is carried out well and progresses the story and cast at a steady pace.

After seeing this I will be looking at getting the series on DVD.

A wondrful Christmas story from the Postables, a quirky, lovable division of the Denver Post Office Dead Letter Office. The Postables deliver, regardless of obstacles. And this Christmas they face quite a few: a despertely ill, pregnant mother; a frightened little girl; a mysterious supervisor; and, as always in the Postable films, their own fears and disappointments built up over the years. Yeah, it's a tear jerker. And a perfect Christmas presemt!

My wife and I saw this program when it was first aired on Hallmark a few days ago (Nov 2014). We had watched all the previous episodes of Signed, Sealed and Delivered, and had enjoyed them for their story lines as well as for the individual characters who are nicely developed and who also form an effective ensemble.

This Christmas special is almost breathtaking. I'd love to know more about the writer(s) involved and how the director and actors viewed the project also. Particularly good is how this Christmas episode provides enough background and details about the characters so that a first-time watcher of the series is not lost or bewildered.

I plan to add to this review after I watch the program again (on DVR). The actors in this series and the guest stars all deserve recognition for their work.

Right now I can say this beautifully filmed and edited show offers a lovely composition of interesting characters, dynamic and subtle relationship issues, tension and pathos, familiar cinematic devices that older viewers will recognize and all can appreciate ... and ... some clear, eloquent expressions of doubts about Christmas and then a stirring vision of the most basic true meaning of the Christmas message.

Whether the viewer is secular, Christian, or of another worldview, the overall presentation is at once intriguing, uplifting and satisfying. This two-hour program showcases the best of what the Hallmark Channel aims to offer viewers.

Absolutely marvelous on so many levels. Traditional family values. The interwoekinksnof the narrative was consistently wholesome. The narrative was full of great relationships. We were very attentive to the plot line the whole way. And the narrative of the nativity was also included. Such a precious gem of a movie. More of this, please!!

For some odd reason I cannot post this unless I say more. I need to add 188 more characters. I'm satisfied with what I have said. Take my word for it. This is a delightful narrative. So glad we watched it. We plan to watch the whole series. I applaud the work of the writing team. Nicely done.

8.2 stars.

I cried too many times on this one and I'm running out of tears. I may have to put the next movie on hold in order to give my ducts a chance to replenish.

The most notable advice I have is to watch these from start to finish in chronological order. Don't begin watching any of the movies without seeing season 1 first, otherwise you will utterly ruin the experience of the series. This is most certainly NOT a watch-in-any-haphazard-sequence type of show. I watched the Paris episode/movie first, a couple of years ago, and what a monumental mistake. I had no idea what was going on, the characters were weird and unfamiliar-not a good experience. It spoiled the whole franchise for two years. But then I decided I would try to start from the beginning, and I was hooked by the third episode. I finished season one in two days, here I am on the first movie and what an awesome experience. Do yourself a favor (if you like Christian oriented romances) and watch this, because it may be one of the best ever made. Case in point they're still making 'Signed, Sealed, Delivered' 12 years later!