It Nearly Wasn't Christmas

I saw this movie in 91 and again in 2003. I liked it. It is very poignant. The themese are the innocence of children and that there is good in the world. I remember Merle Osmand form the Osmand Brothers when I was a child. i didn't know that he was in to acting. We always hear about Donny and Merie. The acting is good. Some of the actors are famous and some are not. It is a good story about Santa Clause. There are other movies which Santa looses hope. Personally, I think that Chrismas is a special time of year and people sometimes get discouraged with all of they hype. Rent this one you will like it!

I feel this movie will leave you with the feeling so many have lost over the years - love and a feeling of goodness. This movie tries to point out the missing elements not just in Christmas but in our everyday lives. Stop and take the time to actually watch and listen to this movie not just with your eyes but with your heart. Beverly Rowland was perfect as Mrs. Claus and Charles Durning was superb in his portrayal of a saddened Santa. Risa Schiffman; Annette Marin; Wayne Osmond all did wonderful jobs acting. My favorite though would have to have been Philpot - what a delightful character and one that displays a little of each of us.

I taped It Nearly wasn't Christmas several years ago but for some reason I didn't watch it until this year and so far I have watched it 3 times and I think this movie is great! It is about a little girl named Jennifer who lives in Illinois and she is unhappy that her father (Played by Wayne Osmond) has been working in California and can't make it home for Christmas and her mother is to busy and doesn't have enough money to take Jennifer and herself to see him so Jennifer runs away and meets Santa Claus who is on a mission to see if there are people who still care about Christmas because he is feeling that no one believes in him anymore and that people have gotten greedy and have no good will towards each other. This is a very cute movie and I really liked watching it and I thought the cast was good and Wayne Osmond who plays Jennifer's father is one of the Osmond brothers and this movie was filmed in Utah back in the late 1980's and watching this movie you will definitely see how late 80's it is especially with the clothes, hairstyles and the mother's huge eyeglasses that practically take up her whole face but despite that it's still a great movie and Ted Lange who was part of the cast of the 70's/80's TV show The Love Boat is in this too! This movie reminds me of the Christmas cartoon The Year Without A Santa Claus because like that cartoon this movie has a Santa Claus who is feeling a little down in the dumps and feeling that people just don't care about each other and needs something to show him that there are still decent people out there that are nice and caring!

This is the absolute bottom of the proverbial barrel. Devoid of plot, charm, humor, warmth, class, good acting, and sincerity, "It Nearly Wasn't Christmas" plods through a random series of ridiculous events to its predictable conclusion. This is a holiday special in which people do nothing but lie to each other--feel the love. Watch Charles Durning play a misanthropic, bitter Santa Claus, who decides to trek the world with the most annoying sidekick of all time--an elf who appears to have been a member of a gay biker gang. Watch for "The Love Boat"'s Ted Lange churn out an amazingly bland performance as a psychotic thief who apparently thinks he is some sort of pirate. Watch for the conclusion, in which a guy at a mall starts singing a song especially composed for this TV movie, and EVERYONE--every single person in the mall- joins in! (Have YOU ever heard the song "It Nearly Wasn't Christmas"? Not unless you've seen this movie. But every person in the entire mall knows it by heart!!) Watch for the most irritating girl in the history of precocious child heroes--the very last scene in the movie leads me to imagine her face immortalized on a box of doughnuts. Really, friends, this is the lowest of the low, and you should probably watch it just to appreciate the true holiday classics, that do not depend on stale formulae and sappy songs to drag them along.

This movie reminds me of my childhood, when it was played on television every year at Christmas time. My sister, brother and I used to get so excited, yelling and screaming every time we knew it was coming on TV. Although it may not have any mention of religion (not ALL of us are religious) it is a very cute tale that brings warm happy memories to mind. I don't understand why they stopped playing it every year, as far as I'm concerned it's just as important as the Grinch movie. What can I say, I am a sucker for Christmas movies... I just wish I could find it on DVD!! Anyone know where to find it? Looked everywhere but this movie cannot be found!?!?!