A Christmas Snow

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.

This falls in the category of sappy Christmas movie, but it's a good one. It's a sweet story with likable characters and a satisfying ending.

Like most Christmas and/or feel good movies, the plot is a bit contrived, but nothing too far fetched. I especially enjoyed the young girl - once she got over the bratty phase and started letting her personality show. The old man - Sam - gave a heartwarming performance, and his reading of the story of Simeon was beautiful.

There is a message of faith, but it's subtle and you certainly don't feel preached at.

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.

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.

'A Christmas Snow', yet another recently seen Christmas film seen during my favourite holiday, could have gone either way. It could either have been very charming, cute and heart-warming, which is more my idea of what a Christmas film should be like. Or it could have been too schmaltzy and forced with unsubtle moralising. There are quite a number of examples of both extremes around, as well as a fair share of festive films that have elements of both and induce mixed feelings with me.

One Christmas film that fits into both camps and has elements of all the above is 'A Christmas Snow'. It is better than average with a good deal to like, one can see why it would connect with viewers and the effort that was put in. For me though, for all its good intentions and that it had its heart in the right place, it was not a great film and it is not hard to see why there are people that didn't care for it (also understand, and share some of, their reasoning).

It's a good looking film. Nice scenery. Slickly filmed. The music avoids being too constant or over-scored and captures the essence of Christmas quite well. There are thoughtful and moving moments in the script, the direction is visually slick and while far from perfect is not cold in the emotional department.

There is charm here, it gets very heart-warming towards the end, some of the second half is very poignant and the children are cute without being too cutesy. The actors all do quite well, Cameron Ten Napel is very heartfelt and Muse Watson's sincerity really shines through.

However, 'A Christmas Snow' can go too overboard on the sappiness so parts are too sickly sweet. While the film does pick up, it doesn't have the most promising of starts. The first half has a tendency at times to move too slowly and some of the story is very contrived.

Can see where one reviewer is coming from regarding the boyfriend, that did not strike me as realistic and yes she should have behaved tougher. Liked the well intended messaging but it could have been executed with a lot more subtlety.

On the whole, a little above average but for me it wasn't great. 6/10