Silver Bells

"Silver Bells" is a superb Christmas film that has many variations from the common formulaic holiday romance movies. Those who particularly like that sort of film may not enjoy this film as much - unless they happen also to appreciate films that go a bit deeper with family and marriage.

One very different aspect of this plot is that the two people who eventually come together - or really, literally "find" another person, have both lost their spouses to death three and four years earlier. Their love, or romance is a slow "discovery" of one another that happens in the context of the main plot of the film. That is the separation of a father and his son, the son running away as a young teenager, and the dad searching for him for a year. Yes, there are divorces and single moms or dads with children. And, yes there are young women who are dating or engaged to men who may not be "Mr. Right," where the right guy comes along. But those aspects have plots that have been used so often that they are hardly interesting plots for stories anymore.

"Silver Bells" also goes further in other directions. There are more aspects- differences in interests of the dad and son, a young daughter and sibling of the son; the family's annual month-long trip from their tree farm home in Nova Scotia to New York City and a regular place where they set up to sell their Christmas trees and board with a woman who is a friend. And, much more to the meat of this story and film. The young son's interest in photography and the subsequent artistic views the audience get - seeing nature and architecture through the eyes of an artist. The dad's friendship with a local police officer who has helped look for his son; and a budding other romance - the policeman and a young woman friend of the female lead.

There's no doubt that patience is required because this film is much more slowly developed, but as such it is more down to earth and gives a real feel for the story and the lives of the people. It's not a quick run around and holidays romance. The film is based on a 2004 novel of the same title by Luanne Rice. All of the cast are very good in their roles. Three whose performances stand out are Anne Heche as Catherine O'Mara, Michael Mitchell as Danny Byrne, and Courtney Jines as Bridget Byrne.

Some aspects of the production are familiar - so many of these films that air on the Hallmark TV channel are made in Canada. One can understand when part of the plot or story is imparting the traditional aspects of a white Christmas, and the beauty of the countryside, forests, and hills raped in snow. But this one was made in the U. S., so the Christmas tree harvesting might have been filmed in any of several states where such farms exist - from New England to the West Coast. This one has both the pastoral scenery and some fairly nice scenic shots of the Big Apple.

And, one other aspect that is shown more in this than in most films, is signs of Christian faith. Some films will have scenes or dialog about children in a school play of the Christmas story, or a Christmas pageant that includes religion. But this one shows churches and some of the cast going to church. In that sense, also, it is more realistic - in showing true customs and practices of the vast majority of the population of the time.

This is a very good film for the Christmas holidays about family, love, healing from the loss of loved ones, and finding new love. It's a good story of hope and about second chances in life and how healing is hastened with care about and for others.

My favorite line in the film is when Christy Byrne (played by Tate Donovan) meets Sylvester Rheinback (played by John Cunningham). Christy, "Oh, you're Catherine's boss." Sylvester, "Well, I try not to boss her around too much."

My Christmas film viewings over-time have been a very mixed bag. With some surprisingly good hits, where regardless of how predictable they are succeed in being full of charm, warmth and heart so succeeding in being light-hearted and undemanding fun. But also some quite big misses, where the characters are not likeable, everything is forced and shallow with implausibility too in some of the worst cases, the acting and writing being weak and basically with just nothing to them.

Despite being a long way from perfect or being a complete hit, 'Silver Bells' is thankfully closer to the former category if not quite. Certainly not a film to humbug on. As far as the Christmas films seen overtime go, 'Silver Bells' is somewhere around high middle, which is not too bad a position to be in actually. Especially considering how much of a mixed bag some recently seen Christmas film viewings have been. Expectations were mixed, but the execution was better than expected.

'Silver Bells' isn't perfect. Maybe it does take a while to get going and the messaging could have been more subtle, if the truth had been revealed a little earlier than it was that may have made a difference.

There also could have been more development to Christy, who is too much of a jerk, and also didn't like how long it took for Catherine to come out with the truth or how obnoxious the son sometimes is.

However, a lot is good. It pleases visually, lovely festive locations attractively and never drably or garishly shot. The music isn't as intrusive as it tends to be with Hallmark while the direction gets the job done well. The script doesn't get too cheesy or sentimental and does have a more natural flow when it becomes more settled. The story is not too heavy while taking itself seriously and is both warm-hearted and has a light touch when necessary.

On the whole as well it isn't too predictable, there are elements that are different than the usual Hallmark Christmas film and they are elements that feature a lot but not rammed down the throat. Did find later on that the characters were generally worth caring about. Anne Heche and Tate Donovan both give honest committed performances, particularly Heche.

In conclusion, decent if not great. 6/10.

I really didn't like this production. The title sets up a metaphor which signals the "big message". There are two problems with the "big message". First, it's delivered with hammer-like subtlety -- okay, Hallmark is not particularly good with subtlety, but still, why use a metaphor if you're going to hit us over the head with its meaning? The metaphor itself becomes little more than a scavenger hunt to find the (literal) silver bells. Second, the metaphor really doesn't match the plot. The central conflict between father and son is not well developed and doesn't make sense. The inevitable explosion seems completely out of character. I get it, son rebels against Dad's career choice for him, an age-old dilemma. But what happens here is out of character and overwrought. And what does any of this have to do with "silver bells"? The message of the metaphor would not solve the father/son conflict. Add to these issues the fact that there is absolutely no chemistry between Anne Heche and Tate Donovan. Chemistry is critical to the Hallmark formula! In fact, the relationship here is not even at the center of the story, which is a mistake, because Hallmark is all about that relationship. I would just as soon have skipped this one -- and it has to be pretty bad for me to say that!

"Silver Bells" was billed as the 225th presentation in the Hallmark Hall of Fame made-for-television film series. Sadly, this effort was not among the strongest of their offerings.

The likable cast included Anne Heche and Tate Donovan, whose characters were a widow and widower, and who inevitably became the central romantic couple. Unfortunately, the plot focused on a teenager runaway problem, as opposed to joys of the holidays, which should have been the film's central preoccupation.

As played by Donovan, the young runaway's father was a hard-working Christmas-tree dealer and decent man, and it made no sense that the boy would take to the streets of New York City following an argument with his father. The runaway story bogged down the film as a lugubrious, mechanical plot device.

The film should have celebrated the holidays with more joy in the lives of the characters. The most heart-warming scenes were the ice-skating sequence and the singing of the children in the church choir. The son Danny (Michael Mitchell) was an aspiring photographer. The film should have been about the photos, the great New York scenery, and the young man's love of photography, not the maudlin, melodramatic, and ultimately unconvincing story of a runaway.

BEWARE OF BOGUS REVIEWS. 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. I AM VERY FARE ABOUT THESE FILMS.

This is a nice little Christmas film that was part of the "Hallmark Hall of Fame" production banner. In this film a single father runs a Christmas Tree Farm with his 2 teenage children. Once a year they go to New York City and sell the trees.

Upon the latest Christmas the man gets into a physical fight with his son. The son who is only 16 years old but he is a gifted photographer. After runs away he become homeless but is surviving by getting work at a newspaper. He is the unknown photographer taking pictures in the "LOOK UP CAMPAIGN".

The picture works well. The film has a message that was well worth exploring.

This film however is not for people with no attention span. Men under 40 will hate this. Children will be bored.