Comfort and Joy

After a mishap on the road, single advertising vice-president Nancy McKeon (as Jane Berry) finds herself married, with children. All mixed up, Ms. McKeon has apparently landed ten years in the future. You won't know what's going on until the end, but you may have seen this story before. They're calling it "situational amnesia." McKeon has traded her male model-type boyfriend for snuggly Steven Eckholdt (as Sam Keller), the director of a drug and alcohol center for the homeless. McKeon's work has become mothering two cute kids, cooking, cleaning and volunteering for churchy Connecticut groups. Funniest scenes involve bickering parents Paul Dooley and Dixie Carter (as George and Frederica Berry). Most tired scene involves McKeon's Jewish pal and four swishy Christmas chums watching "Sunset Boulevard" with Gloria Swanson. She's right, "It's the pictures that got small."

**** Comfort and Joy (12/1/03) Maggie Greenwald ~ Nancy McKeon, Steven Eckholdt, Dixie Carter, Paul Dooley

I really liked the movie ,it is perhaps a note for people who are too much in the world and have no pity to help the old and homeless. It makes it possible for a person like Jane to change in to a good person like Sam.I think the acting in the movie is flawless and Steven Eckholdt is a very complete actor. It is certainly a thought provoking movie.Even the minute character of Sam's mother in law is full of life representing a women who thinks not beyond her materialistic world and is unhappy to see her successful daughter ending up in a life she would never choose for her.I think the understanding of the couple in the movie is serene and yes it is a movie worth watching.

A young career-minded woman has an accident and wakes up married with 2 children and a husband who works in a homeless shelter and drug rehab center. She is aghast to find that out because she is a "scrooge" type of person. Sounds familiar? One might call this a preview of an alternative life style. This easily reminds us of a great movie in the past, "It is A Wonderful Life" with James Stewart. It is actually rather nice to be able to see what your life will be like in 10 years. The trouble is that you might not be able to change anything even knowing what is coming. She could have been married to a gangster or a murderer. The acting is quite light weight. Nancy McKeon seems to be going through the motion. She treats her drastic change as if she found herself wearing a different outfit and wondering how it happens. The husband is unconvincingly nonchalant as is the 'doctor'. Post traumatic amnesia requires at least a hospital visit. However there is a small bright spot in this other lackluster movie; it is Dixie Carter as the insufferable mother with a Southern accent. One must not forget that this is a fantasy, one in which explanations are unnecessary about details like why Jane has not aged in 10 years. The movie is a minor variation on the same age-old theme. Do accept the imperfections and enjoy this little bonbon; it is, after all, Christmas.

I don't know what the previous reviewer's eggnog was spiked with! I liked this little holiday offering with the underrated Nancy McKeon in the Jimmy Stewart role of this "it's A Wonderful Life" clone. But, hey, all the TV movies this time of year are versions of the great original, aren't they? I'm watching right now, so maybe the whole thing will get derailed later in the plot. Hope not. Different takes on Dicken's original "original" are always welcome and sure beat another Abflex infomercial! Oh, and that reviewer's line about the scenes with her parents? The fabulous Paul Dooley -- none other than Wimby from "Popeye" -- is always a joy to watch and is an understated delight here. Dixie Carter as the Mom is, well, Dixie Carter. I guess there are Grinches, even among anonymous reviewers. For the rest of you, enjoy! And that's the splendid Lou Rawls singing the Christmas Song during the crash scene. Very inventive!

I thoroughly enjoyed it. Started watching and couldn't tear myself away. A feelgood experience that makes one realize, there are things in life more important than "things". I hope I get to watch it every year, it isn't often a classic in the making comes along.