The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey

This under-advertised DVD movie is a gem. It is suitable for all ages, and will be most appreciated by children and mature watchers. The players are all just excellent and I especially liked the work of the director. This is a heartwarming and uplifting tale, something we all need these days! Set at Christmas-time, the story shows how kindness and a strong,loving spirit can break barriers of loss and loneliness. The young actor playing the role of the son is outstanding and Mr. Berenger's genuine portrayal of the lonely recluse is moving and heart-felt. I believe this rather short film could become a Christmas staple and hope others who watch it will agree.

The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey is a Christmas film, that shows us how to love others in many ways. This movie is a great non-rated film with morals and it has something for all ages!

Tom Berenger does a wonderful job playing a gloomy Jonathan Toomey. Children make fun of his sad disposition, but when you learn more about the man, you understand why he is downcast. Jonathan is a widower, who lost his wife and baby son and he is a very lonely man.

Jonathan's life gradually changes in a positive way, when he mets Thomas, played by Luke Ward Wilkerson, and the boy's mother, Susan McDowel, played by Joely Richardson. These two come into the man's life, after Thomas's father is killed in a war.

The lonely threesome become friends, when Jonathan agrees to make a wooden nativity set for Thomas. Their relationships are strained at first, but later on Jonathan warms up to Thomas, after the boy is sweetly particular about how the manger characters should be carved.

During the cute movie, other relationships build with Thomas and other children, and his mom and lovable aunt. (The aunt thinks that she lost her husband in the war, but later we find out that he was just lost in action for awhile.) The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey was very well done, except that I would like to have heard more religious Christmas music in the movie. Also, I did not enjoy the whiny country singer at the closing of the film. However, the movie still deserves a 9 out of 10, because the story was very well developed and it shows how the love of Jesus can make a positive difference in people's lives. The top stars in this movie are really Jesus, our Lord and Savior, and a caring, sweet boy, Thomas!

I love the book by this name. It is a beautiful story with beautiful illustrations. However, this movie is such a poor retelling of it. Many movies feel like they didn't really need to be made. They feel forced and contrived, and that's what I see here. I didn't enjoy this nearly as much as I hoped I would. It felt like everyone was just going through the motions. I wouldn't watch this again if I had to. There are so many high-achieving Christmas movies. This one falls so far short of my expectations. I didn't even feel like the adapted screenplay was appropriate. The setting felt off, even. They could have done so much better.

So beautiful, it enchanted me, it could be even darker, more intense, the childish tone made it somewhat superficial and predictable, as children's stories should be, it had the potential to be better, but the narrative, the characters and the photograph enchant. Cute and charming...

All shot in England...likely in studio sound stages. The surreal imagery added to the tale. The young kid was a bit too bratty at first after his dad died. I didn't know this was a British film until the kid messed up his American accent a few times. Would have been better if the reclusive wood carver had been a true hottie after he got all cleaned up and de-bearded(not depicted). A little bit of eye candy never hurts. The end was a let down as nothing really happened. I suppose the rapid transformation of the reclusive wood carver into a warm, sociable human being was the miracle. We needed to care more about the carver for the miracle to have more impact. His character wasn't developed enough to give us this......Worth watching once.