The Miracle of the Cards

"Miracle of the Cards" is a good heart-warming drama about faith and hope. It is a story of a young boy, "Craig", who is afflicted with a brain tumor and his fight to overcome his illness.

The perserverance and strength of Craig is clearly portrayed by the young actor. The actress that played Craig's mother, on the other hand, clearly did not put enough practice into her English accent. Her performance is wooden-faced and extremely strained. Craig's father is played by Peter Wingfield, who once again flawlessly became the character.

Would have been nice to have it actually filmed in the UK. The hideous clipped accents were bad enough but the hospital which looked like something from a 50's film, the post vans and ambulances that were obvious North American. And the church, no that doesn't look like it's in the middle of a forest rather than London. Luckily there's some decent actors but I can certainly see why Americans have certain views of what like here is like when you have films like this.

Oh and the addition of Union Jacks everywhere to reinforce the fact you're in the UK doesn't work.

The courageous tale of a young boy diagnosed with a brain tumor and the fight to keep him alive through treatment, and what else, the get-well cards, hence the title. Sounds like sentimental, award-winning material, doesn't it? It does. But there are several holes which couldn't save this cheap picture show.

Catherine Oxenberg portraying the real-life Marion Shergold is just awful; her "emotion" was completely forced, the "accent" made me cringe, and it made me wonder if her authentic British counterparts jeered at her during filming. Aside from her god-awful performance, the storyline completely dragged--I fell asleep twice on my sofa--and regardless of what the millions of cards did for the terminally ill bugger, I was left empty and unsatisfied. This could have been much better.

This is one of those feel-good Hallmark-style TV movies that is based on the true story of Marion Shergold and her son, Craig, who was plagued with a brain tumor. A leap of faith convinced them to launch a get-well campaign for the boy involving thousands of get-well cards, attempting to set a record for the most cards received for the Guiness Book of Records. Craig's will to live remains strong through the encouragement of the cards.

It's a perfect film for the entire audience, very family oriented and very heartfelt at times. The pacing and direction are well done and most of the characters were likable, with the exception of the father who showed indifference in finding a cure for Craig for some reason.

Much of the acting was OK, though there are some corny moments, including the part where Craig's older brother roots for their mom in the contest. I guess much of these made-for-TV movies have acting that is not really on par with motion picture films, but, this movie is still a pleasant viewing experience and will sure give you a tingly and chilly feeling of goodness.

Grade B

[1] apart from Thomas Sangster (of "Love Actually" fame), the American actors' "English" accents are appalling.

[2] the acting is so wooden.

[3] the "English" scenery (especially local church and "Royal Marsden" exteriors) is so American!

[4] the general 'direction' is so amateurish, and obviously "Made-for-US-TV".

It's a shame, as the story is real, and inspiring.

So why is it that US directors/actors all think that everyone in England speaks with a plum stuck in their cheek?

We don't!

And why use US actors and US sets but a UK boy in a UK story?