I, too, picked this up because of Jerry B. Jenkins name on it. The blurb on the back of the DVD sounded intriguing also. I must say, I was very pleasantly surprised and touched by this film.
The story is about 5 people whose lives intersect randomly on Christmas Eve and how those intersections impact the lives of the other characters.
Steven Baldwin and K Callan give the two strongest performances. They also had the most developed story lines, which, I am sure, helped their performances. Baldwin plays "Lefty", a down on his luck loser. K Callan plays "Eva Boyle," a woman whose family is nowhere to be seen and is living a life of quiet desperation and failing mental capacity. Both are at the end of their respective ropes.
Kirk B. R. Woller does a fine job as "Kirk," the lonely owner of a convenience store in a very bad location.
I felt the two weakest stories were "Mary," whose husband suffered brain damage in some sort of accident, and "Mitch", a youth pastor, who was somehow involved in that accident. The actors did the best they could with their material, but since their stories were never really fleshed out, they had a hard time with their roles, I think.
I would have liked to have had more information on "Mitch" and more insight into his feelings of guilt and inadequacy. But even so, Mitchell Jarvis did a great job of portraying a young man who is unsure that what he is doing has any meaning or significance.
The writing was very strong and showed how just random acts of kindness can have a major impact upon peoples lives. It also opens a window on why some people are not so ecstatic about the prospect of another Christmas Eve.
Overall a very thought-provoking movie which makes you wonder just what you could do to impact someone's life positively.
