Three Wishes

for message, for performance, for Patrick Swayze and for the young Joseph Mazzello. sentimental, nice, seductive. soup for soul. one of films for romantics, useful, again and again, for remind the role of miracles. and for enjoy. sure, a film for a kind of public. no surprise. but, in same measure, one of films who, without be great or unique, is a good escape from reality and comfortable way to discover the life on a different angle. a film about a meeting. and about love. about magic. and about hope. about trust. almost a fairy tale in American spirit.interesting for a form of self definition. because, like every magic, it is more than a show.

I was up late already... But the story drew me in and as the minutes ticked by I decided this was worth it to stay up until 1:30 AM to see the ending even though 6 AM was going to come awfully early. This was an all-around feel-good movie... A bit of magic, a lot of courage from a single mom, a bit of baseball (and who doesn't like a bit of baseball in their movies?), a dog who might be more than a dog, and Patrick Swayze quietly helping a suburban community think outside the box. He's kindly and unfailingly honest. I'm just surprised the suburbanites didn't lynch him and stone his kind single-mom hostess after his first week there. The end had a nice wrap-around closure. Totally worth staying up for!

I read one of the comments and it wasn't favorable.. but I'll venture to disagree. the movie held my interest until 2:30 in the am.. it made me laugh and cry and it touched my heart strings.all the little boys did a real good job acting, as did the adults. it sent many positive messages on living life and being true to yourself...and the courage to do what makes you happy.also that prayer works.... I e-mailed one of my daughters and told her she too might enjoy it.. so what if it's fantasy...it was a feel good flick and I am happy I had the chance to view it..by far beats all the horror and murder movies and give hope that the world can be turned into a better place one man/woman at a time....

In your Plot Outline you state that, "In an unexplained act of charity, Jeanne Holman picks up an injured, apparent tramp..." This act is thoroughly explained -- she feels responsible for his entry and is a "good person" in the context of the times (pre-1975). In spite of the PG rating, this is a fine movie for the entire family. If you've forgotten the magic of the human heart, this movie will remind you that it still exists.

Certainly a mixed bag of comments on this one. I'm definitely one of this film's boosters. I saw it long ago on a motel tv in the middle of the night and have never forgotten it. My memory was that it was an 80s movie; I suppose because most of the plot was set in the 50s. When I rediscovered that it was made as late as 1995 I was quite surprised. The fact that women directors and writers were so heavily involved with this movie explains its beautiful emotional resonance. Even now as I write this I'm again deeply moved by the whole story and its telling. To me it's right up there with films like "It's a Wonderful Life" and "Miracle on 34th Street," etc. Recently TCM has been featuring great women screen writers like Frances Marion and April Guy Blache. I'm glad to discover that women are still and again strongly contributing to our collective screen world of emotions and feelings. Too bad this sensitive approach seems to turn some of your reviewers strongly off. Perhaps it's a gender thing.