You expect nuanced, heart-wringing performances from the likes of Susan Sarandon, Robin Williams, Penelope Cruz, and Alan Arkin. They've got the acting chops for almost any role, and they are a director's dream cast for an ensemble piece with the sweet sadness of this quiet Christmas film. They deliver. Sarandon has seldom been so luminous, Cruz so vulnerable.
But Paul Walker? It starts off as a familiar role - the cop, the blue-eyed good guy - and rapidly moves beyond that stereotype into territory and emotional range I honestly never though he could traverse. No car chases, no punch-ups, no us-versus-them and emerging triumphant over evil. This role, in this movie, shows where he could have gone, to become one of this generation's great character actors. In that stellar company of actors, he was not outmatched.
Oh, yes, and the script is pitch-perfect. Each separate plot is internally credible and consistent, each looped through at least one other like garland around the holiday tree, all gleaming gently in the glow of many heart-warming lights.
Prepare your hankie. You'll need it.
