We Need A Little Christmas

No spoilers here, as that would be unfair to the new viewers of this heart warming story. The actors all played their parts convincingly and with sincerity.

No one would dispute that the story of a widower raising her young son alone and coping with family emotions around Christmas has been over done more than we would like to see. Having said that, I thought I had the film pegged right as just another "tug at your heart strings" drama under the guise of Christmas. But I will be the first to admit that I was wrong. I will also admit that this film did in fact tug at my heart strings and in so doing I shed a few tear drops, and they were happy teardrops. Very happy teardrops.

The gist of the story really is about friends helping friends, and so I thought this Christmas themed film should be more appropriately re-titled the Beatles hit song "With a Little Help from My Friends".

I give the film a praise worthy 7 out of 10 IMDb rating.

Erica Durance was very convincing as a woman (Julie) juggling a lot of challenges and emotions. She had to deal with being there for her son, who lost his father, while dealing with her own pain in losing her husband, all while trying to keep her business (and self esteem) afloat. Her character's frustration was believable, and the writers made sure to show that she wasn't perfect (who is?). Still, having a huge pile of unopened mail sitting on a table, in full view of every client who comes into her office, was a bit much, especially when her assistant pointed it out and offered to take care of it. That scene really bugged me. But her jealous overreaction to Irene's growing connection to Julie's son seemed more realistic.

At first, I thought Lynn Whitfield might be overacting a bit as the perpetually upbeat neighbor Irene. But then I realized that her character has a theatrical background and it made a little bit more sense.

I thought Julie's growing attraction to Peter (played by Patrick Sabongui) was also believable. He seemed like a nice guy.

Gavin, Julie's son, was played by Azriel Dalman and I thought he did a nice job of playing a conflicted and confused little boy.

Overall, I thought it was a solid effort.

Some of them scenes felt awkward because of the dialogue and the camera angle choices. The lead actress was strong, as was the supporting actress. But some of the other characters could have been neighbors of the crew --that's how absolutely ZERO inexperienced they were. . It was almost cringe-worthy.

The wardrobe department did a nice job and the costumes were nicely done. The sets were done well -- not overtly repurposed buildings that are typical in Hallmark movies. And reasonably decorated for Christmas, not the typical "xmas tree in every bedroom" nonsense.

The neighbor character (and the actress playing that part) saved the movie from being a complete loss.

Have tissues ready for this ending. Absolutely loved the message in the movie. Such a sweet movie that's not about the woman getting a man in the end and ending the movie with a kiss. Which 90-99& percent of Hallmark movies tend to do. This movie is about much more than this. I would recommend you giving this one a watch at least one time. Irene and Julie Julie's friendship is so sweet and it just shows no matter age, race, background, etc. You can love your neighbor and truly be friends.

This is one movie that would sit down and watch every miracles of Christmas. The actors worked really well together.

This is the story of Julie a new widow and single mom, who is looking at spending her first Christmas without her husband. She moves to a new neighborhood across town (I am not sure why she would want to uproot her son who is already dealing with loss) and has this big plan to do all the Christmas traditions with her son Gavin...only Gavin doesn't seem to be having any of it. Thankfully Gavin meets their next door neighbor played by Lynn Whitfield. Lynn Whitfield had to be the kindest and most understanding neighbor. She not only takes Gavin under her wing, but helps his mom realize she can't do it on her own.

Inspired by her neighbor, Julie becomes a better person and honestly a better mom.

This is a little sad for a Christmas movie...but the messages are good and it has the obligatory happy ending. Romantics will appreciate this film.