A Christmas Snow

Does your dad leaving you and your mom when you were a child justify being mean and rude to just about everyone and acting more of a child than the cute kid you are babysitting? It's a little extreme, but once you get past that, things lighten up and Cameron Ten Napel shines as a precocious, cute, and very wise child. The last half of the movie, especially the ending is very heart warming.

This is a faith based movie with one theological problem that we'll just ignore. There is a strong message about forgiving, faith, and family.

The sappy meter is quite high on this one, so if you don't like sappy, then be warned.

Should I mention that the ground is almost bare of snow except for a few patches on the day after a blizzard shuts down the city so bad that the lady can't even drive to work? Just ignore all that too.

Christmas hasn't been the same for Kathleen since her father left one Christmas Eve. This Christmas is different. She's thrown together with a young girl and an old man and learns not only how to celebrate the holiday, but also how to love again.

I had the chance to see a preview of this independent film at the Gideon Film Festival. This is a very heartwarming story about a Grinch-like woman who finds love, peace, and forgiveness--a true Christmas story. I loved the performances by Muse Watson and Catherine Mary Stewart, and newcomer Cameron Ten Napel could well be the next Abigail Breslin.

If you have the chance to see this film, I highly recommend it.

Kathleen (Catherine Mary Stewart) is a restaurant owner in a fairly large Western city. Christmas Day is coming fast but Kathleen is a Scroogette. Long ago, her father took off at holiday time, never to return. She insists that there be no decorations at the eatery and that the place will remain open on the Great Day. In addition, a newspaper food critic has ticked her off as well. So, she is in a bad mood when its quitting time. Ho, ho, things get worse when some punks try to mug her. But, happily, an old man, Sam (Muse Watkins) scares them off. Giving him a ride to the bus station, the two learn that Sam has missed his Greyhound. Not knowing what else to do, Kathleen invites him to stay with her, despite their recent friendship. Kathleen gets an additional guest when her boyfriend drops off his daughter, Lucy, in another emergency event. Having met once in the past, the two females don't really like or trust each other. But, stay together a bit they must. The last complication is a heavy snowfall, which prevents the three house mates from going anywhere the next day.....and the next. But, strangely, Sam begins to work more magic, helping Kathleen and Lucy start a friendship. Then, the weather improves and Sam comes up missing. Why has he gone without saying goodbye? This is truly a sweet Christmas film, with religious overtones, but rather somber. Nevertheless, its main theme of forgiveness is just what everyone needs. Stewart and Watkins are excellent, as is the young girl playing Lucy. Also pleasing are the sets, costumes, direction and heartfelt tale. For those who like to celebrate the holidays with a film, this is a nice choice.

Am I the only one that thought the boyfriend was out of line charging in *with no notice* to his (clearly not longstanding) girlfriend's house WITH his kid's suitcase and expecting the girlfriend to take care of the kid overnight? And then, later, he has the sheer audacity to get peeved at her for taking in the man who saved her life, because she may be endangering his daughter?

This all happens early on as mostly the setup for the story, but I lost a lot of respect for the main character in those two scenes, because in everything else she's portrayed as tough as nails, and if she'd kept in character she would have told the guy to forget it. This scenario made it easy for the writer to set up the next events, but it made the story less strong. Even a small conversation about why he hadn't phoned her first to ask her if it was all right or even actually phoning and her agreeing to it would have saved both those characters in my eyes.

Wonderful Christmas movie with a great message about the power of forgiveness. The actors are great and not cheesy. They make the story very real and believable.