25 Days Of Christmas Cheer: Day 3:
I had to include one Hallmark esque, movie of the week style Christmas film, because they're a massive part of the sub genre, and also because The Christmas Hope is a pretty sweet little story. For all its snappiness, it actually has quite a neat little story of happenstance, compassion and redemption for its slight characters. When a young mother (Devon Weigel) dies in a car crash on her way to work, her young daughter Emily (Tori Barban) is left with no other family, and dumped with social services during the holidays. Social worker Patricia Addison (Madeleine Stowe, always awesome to see) feels for the girl, and brings her home for a few days during Christmas, temporarily. She meets Patricia's husband Mark (James Remar, toning down the tough guy persona for touching vulnerability) and learns of how they lost their son in a similar accident some years before. Eventually her presence strikes a chord with the couple, stirring up bittersweet memories for them and causing the trio to bond. Mark and Patricia are also slightly tense with each other, both still deeply hurt from the loss of their son, but Emily gradually is able to mend those wounds simply by the fact that they have opened up their home to her in her time of need. It's a low key little tale, classic Hallmark drama, but veterans Stowe and Remar, who both come from epic careers in high budget fare all across the board, elevate the script with their talents, and Ian Ziering shows up as a kindly doctor as well. Won't knock your socks off, but it's good, war,hearted entertainment for the Christmas season, with a nice little tearjerker of a cathartic moment near the end.
