La magie de Noël

BEWARE OF FALSE REVIEWS & REVIEWERS. SOME REVIEWERS HAVE ONLY ONE REVIEW TO THEIR NAME. NOW WHEN ITS A POSITIVE REVIEW THAT TELLS ME THEY WERE INVOLVED WITH THE MOVIE. IF ITS A NEGATIVE REVIEW THEN THEY MIGHT HAVE A GRUDGE AGAINST THE FILM . NOW I HAVE REVIEWED OVER 200 HOLIDAY FILMS. I HAVE NO AGENDA.

One of the rare Hallmark films that had more promise than most of them but then but it almost becomes cringe worthy when the lead male star breakouts into a song.

In this film in order to gain entry to heaven, a woman (Lindy Booth) must help a man (Paul McGillion) and his young daughter.

Carrie Bishop (Lindy Booth) is a successful event planner living in New York City. Her life changes when she is involved in a car accident and wakes up in Central Park, where she is met by an older man, Henry (Derek McGrath), a spirit guide who is there to instruct her how to get to Heaven. He explains to her that in order to move on, she must complete one task: help widower Scott Walker (Paul McGillion), the owner of a struggling restaurant.

In order to complete her mission, Carrie spends time at the restaurant and becomes friends with Scott's daughter Abby. Carrie puts her event-planning skills to good use and helps to promote the restaurant. But there is a catch: Carrie only has until midnight on Christmas Eve (in two weeks) to succeed in helping Scott turn the failing restaurant into a successful, thriving business. And there are rules, including that Carrie is forbidden to contact anyone from her previous life and that ultimately she cannot meddle in Scott's life (he must make his choices by free will, without her influence). These rules prove to be more & difficult to follow, especially when she begins falls for Scott.

I completely disagree with the reviewer that gave this movie a poor rating. In a day where all we see on TV is violence, death, and sex- this is a refreshing and heartwarming Christmas story for the entire family. Lindy Booth gives a great performance as a woman who is a planner and assists businesses and individuals who need advertisement or just advise how to succeed- however living such a busy and hollow materialistic life has left her loveless, cynical, and alone. Her relationship with her father is non-existent, and she is in desperate need of a wakeup call before it's too late! She meets a kindly older gentleman while filling up her automobile at a local gas station who will change her life in ways she never expected. This is a must see movie for Christmas!!

Cheesy TV Christmas flick. Starts out OK but runs out of steam fast. The story is about a career-driven woman (Lindy Booth, adorable as usual) who seemingly dies and is brought back as an angel. Her first task is to help a single father (Paul McGillion) turn his restaurant business around by Christmas.

If the movie had stayed in the Highway to Heaven mold it started out as, it might have been slightly better. However, they decided to go the romance route. I saw no chemistry between the young attractive Lindy Booth and the older paunchy Paul McGillion, who apparently is also a mouth-breather. It was kind of gross actually. I'm sure I'm sounding shallow here. I could buy her with an overweight older actor if maybe it was someone like Kevin James, who is likable and has a fun personality. But McGillion is about as personable as frozen fishsticks.

Another unimpressive part of the cast was Paul's annoying friend, played by Teresa Pavlinek. I was surprised to discover this was not her first acting job as she was quite terrible. One bright note on the casting was Derek McGrath, an actor I had not seen in many years but have pleasant memories of from many television series in the 1980s, most notably that of "Andy Andy" on Cheers. McGrath plays the angel who guides Lindy throughout the movie and, besides Lindy, he's the only actor with any real presence or charm about him.

Look, it's a made-for-TV Christmas movie. There's a ceiling on how good this could possibly be. I'm sure my ceiling is lower than most others who might check this sort of material out. Judging by some other reviews here, I know that some will enjoy the movie far more than I did. But the romance between two people with zero chemistry and a rather predictable cornball story with a cheat ending just made this movie a chore to sit through for me.

...because it was UNlike some other Hm. Christmas movies that should be shelved permanently! Christmas Magic: 1. none of the characters were irritating. 2. The subject wasn't boring. 3. The plot was nice, decent, flowing...and 4. stayed focused on Christmas, 5. consistent also with Christmas décor. 6. Despite "Carrie," "Scott," and his daughter being in sorrowful situations, there was still a tone of optimism and lightness throughout. 7. Although a fantasy type of movie, it really didn't come across as being corny................................. It was just a very enjoyable movie with enjoyable characters, that I have enjoyed seeing several times.......so I didn't find it necessary or important to care about mistakes..................................On the slight down-side: I didn't care for Scott's attitude...that came out of nowhere...when he defended Carrie's business rival. It was an undeserving, senseless insult to Carrie at that point, after all she did for him and his daughter.

This movie is different from the other holiday movies I've seen this year. A few minutes into the film I wasn't sure if I wanted to continue watching. I didn't see how I could like the ending, however I chose to see it through to the end. The movie leads you to believe one possible ending but surprises you with another one.

Lindy Booth brings real depth to her character, which is very likable. The other actors also did a good job of making the story believable. There are some problems with the film such as make-up, the hospital set, lip syncing and how Carrie jumped into her task so easily. Also the end of the film is a little rushed. You have to realize that this is an Hallmark Channel TV movie. It's a less expensive movie than major network TV movies and has maybe one or two recognizable stars. It's meant to be for all members of the family and give a warm fuzzy holiday feeling.