Wishin' and Hopin' is an untypical Lifetime movie based on a nostalgic book about a Connecticut kid Felix Funicello a 10 year old at a Catholic school whose quirky family own a small diner and are related to a famous celebrity.
He gets to all sorts of scrapes at school with his friends and the film centres on the class preparing for the Christmas play at school when they get a new substitute teacher from Quebec as well as a new student from Russia.
The film did remind me somewhat of A Christmas Story? with all the nostalgia and the narration is provided by Chevy Chase as the older Felix.
The film has a barbed look back at school days of the 1960s, poking fun at Catholic teachers, the Monsignor is played by Meat Loaf! You encounter the kind of classmates I had at school and also see them on the verge of puberty although at 10 years old they were rather early for puberty.
I never really found this plot heavy and nostalgia only can take you so far. It kind of reminded me of shows like The Wonder Years and Chevy Chase's narration told me that Felix must had lived a hard life as its taken it out in his voice.
