Comfort and Joy

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!

Review Date 2/6/2018

PLEASE BEWARE OF SOME REVIEWERS THAT ONLY HAVE ONLY ONE REVIEW. I HAVE OVER 400 REVIEWS OF "CHRISTMAS RELATED FILMS & SPECIALS" WHEN ITS A POSITIVE THERE IS A GOOD CHANCE THEY WERE INVOLVED WITH THE PRODUCTION. NOW I HAVE NO AGENDA! I REVIEW MOVIES & SPECIALS AS A WAY TO KEEP TRACK OF WHAT I HAVE SEEN! I HAVE DISCOVERED MANY GEMS IN MY QUEST TO SEE AS MANY " C H R I S T M A S " MOVIES AS I CAN.

Now Someone keeps reporting my reviews. I guess they are jealous because I do tell the truth. I want to point out that I never make snide remarks about actors weight or real life sexual orientation. If there acting is terrible or limited "I talk about that". If a story is bad "I will mention that" So why am I being "picked on"? IMDB? When one of my reviews gets deleted IMDB will not even tell me what someone found offensive. Well on to this review.

Comfort and Joy is a TV movie directed by Maggie Greenwald, originally airing on the Lifetime cable network in 2003. It starred Nancy McKeon as Jane Berry. The life of Jane Berry was all materialist, until one Christmas Eve, she is involved in a car accident that changes her life forever. She wakes up to discover she is the mother of two, a wife and that her only job is in the house, besides her frequent volunteer work

This is so well made and just a huge delight to watch. It delivers on what is promised and has enough twist on a familiar premise that the film will hold your interest. In fact once you see it "You might want to see it again"

This is a lovely and charming Christmas movie. It's well written and well acted, with a clear storyline from beginning to end. No, you don't know why and you won't know why or how Jane remembers this other life she never lived, but you don't know the how or why of the fantasy of It's a Wonderful Life or A Christmas Carol either - or of all the other movies that feature a character who has some kind of awakening on Christmas Eve.

Comfort and Joy is a thoroughly enjoyable movie about finding the life you never knew you really wanted. It has a positive message, but it isn't the slightest bit sentimental or sugar-coated.

I'm delighted to have found Comfort and Joy; it's a great addition to our Christmas movie collection. I look forward to watching it every year along with all of our other favourites.

I have been a fan of Nancy McKeon since her "Facts of Life" days. She always made interesting films and this was no exception.

Now I know people get sick & tired twists on "It's a Wonderful Life" but this in reality isn't that. What this is about a modern woman who is riding high in her career and she doesn't ever see herself married with children. Then On Christmas Eve day she gets in a car wreck and wakes up to find herself married to a man she has never met. She also has 2 children.

The film is worth watching because the cast is great and they make the materiel pop. The dinner table scene at the end makes this worth watching. I cried because I have been in situations with a parent criticizing everything about my life and someone that I loved having my back!

Seek this film out. It is a winner

. . . Of The Family Man, in which Nicholas Cage plays a similar part. But this update is engaging, fun and less serious.