A Town Without Christmas

A thoroughly enjoyable film, that hopefully will become an annual event. The network was wise enough to run it the following year, & let's hope that in 2003, they show it again. I'd love to see this one come out on video, as it's a jewel. Of course, Peter Falk steals the show.

This is a fairly good mystery story in a Christmas and some romance jammed in. Several seemingly disjointed scenes begin the movie and start us on the mystery journey. There are actually a couple of mysteries going on revolving around each other. There is the little boy, Chris, who is apparently missing or hiding despite the fact that no parents show up to join the hunt that has become a huge circus in town. The second mystery is David's past. He too was lost as a little boy but he's not quite sure how he was rescued.

The acting is solid. Patricia Heaton and Rick Roberts work well together, but there really isn't much screen time devoted to developing any romance. Most of the screen time revolves around the mysteries. I thought the ending would be something else, so I would say the mystery wasn't overly predictable. Some of the results at the end were generally predictable, but after all it is a Christmas romance movie. (I saw it on a Hallmark channel, but the beginning didn't credit Hallmark.)

The story has some unnatural elements. Peter Falk is Max who seems to show up in interesting places to give them clues, but he can span distances in what seems like magic. He also paints pictures of mundane events in David and MJ's life and some of the paintings are in their possession before the events happen.

A Town Without Christmas is just that. Warm. Plus, it's always great to see Peter Falk. The rest of the cast is great also. I'd recommend it for all families looking for something sweet and fun. My rating: 9 of 10.

For some reason, my family and I completely missed this file, or even knowing about it, during the five years since it first aired.

Caught it this year, and glad we did. It is a pleasant story, as are both the characters and cast. (Noted that, although set in Washington state, filming locations were all in Nova Scotia. Enjoyed the scenery knowing this was actual locale, and would like to visit area sometime.)

Patricia Heaton is one of the most attractive persons on-screen today. While it is largely assumed to be because of the pleasant persona she conveyed all those years on "...Raymond," I think that simply demonstrated her appealing persona, along with all other roles in which I've seen her. Rick Roberts, whom I'd not seen before was a pleasant co-star, and Peter Falk adds a lot to anything where he appears.

Despite the comment posted three years ago by the disgruntled Scotsman - who was distressed at having had to watch this "american..." film on Boxing Day -- this is an excellent holiday presentation. These films are not to be "Citizen Kane," and that is probably for the best -- one often simply wants a couple of hours of good holiday fare with pleasant story and cast. Let this dolt simply pop-in "Tunes of Glory," or "The Prime of Miss Jean Brody," straighten his kilt and shut-up.

Mr Colombo always flying in my heart!Tipical movie Single man and woman after each together!So Happy End