November Christmas

If all movies were like this I would actually watch TV or go to the movies! This was an excellent film, well written, well directed, well acted. It's all about relationships, and that's what life is about! Thanks to Hallmark for another outstanding performance and to the wonderful cast! I appreciated the fact that God and prayer were given proper respect and significance. I also appreciated the way our human condition (sickness, broken relationships, death) was dealt with as being a part of life. Life isn't always fair and hard times come, but the way we deal with it speaks of character and faith and perseverance, and taking joy where we find it. This is one movie that I would actually buy and make a family tradition to watch. Thank you!

This is a superb film for the Christmas season. But, unless one usually has a supply of tissue on hand for this time of year, it is wise to be prepared before sitting down to watch "November Christmas." This is definitely a full box tissue movie for the ladies, and a hankie soaker for most men.

The movie goes at a very slow pace, but that's dictated by the story circumstances. Vanessa Marks is an 8-year-old girl who is being treated for cancer. And, some of the people in the rural New England town her family has moved to are hurting from their pasts. Nearly every scene is packed with emotion. I won't say more about the plot, but note that there are several smaller stories built into this one movie. And, it's done superbly.

Families that have experienced childhood or adult illnesses, especially, know the difficulties, the daily struggles, and the sadness. And, hopefully, most who have, also will have known the closeness, comfort and love that brings families and people together. My thanks to Greg Coppa, whose short story this film was based on. It shows how a child's cancer can bring out the best in people. And how it can lead to restoring friendships, healing personal hurts from similar losses, and neighborly caring and love.

The cast all are excellent in their performances. Especially worth noting is Emily Alyn Lind who plays Vanessa. Hallmark came up with a very different plot that makes this one of its "very best" Christmas movies of recent decades. It was filmed in Nova Scotia.

Here are some favorite lines from this film.

Claire Sanford, "Some women get diamonds. You shower me with pumpkins." Jess Sanford, "Got a bit carried away."

Jess Sanford, "I don't think anybody really knows if they're good at anything until they try it."

We only recently stumbled across this 12 year-old film (as I type) and only then because I noticed Sam Elliot is in it.

A little girl has leukemia and may not make it until Christmas, so her father arranges to move up all the holidays to try to squeeze them in before the worst might happen.

It's no spoiler to reveal that the little girl recovers, because the movie leads with her as an adult, and the whole movie is a flashback into a book she wrote about her childhood.

Sam Elliot's character runs a nearby farm, and he had also lost a child. When he gets wind of what's happening, he helps. Eventually, the entire town helps. The movie is warm and moving, and immediately when into our favorites list for the holiday season.

As I was flipping channels, looking for something interesting, I found November Christmas. As I checked on the information, I saw that Sam Elliot was in this movie. Enough for me to watch......

I once read where he saw some parts that he had passed up on, then later thought that he could have done that...

I have always admired his work and felt that he could have/should have been a mega star, very much in the caliber of John Wayne, just in our era of time.

In my view, we do not have many actors in the caliber of our hero, John Wayne. Mr Elliot has stretched his acting legs many times, in different movies and different types of roles and he has excelled in each, as I expected.

In "November Christmas", Sam plays an aging neighbor to a family in crisis.This family in crisis, allows him to do a "do over" from a crisis in his past. This is something that he missed in his real life, so he gets to address that concept on screen. Sam personifies someone that is bitter from circumstances of the past, who transforms into a wonderful, Grandfatherly figure, with a new opportunity to right the past. He does just that, in grand fashion. It is saddening for me to understand what his age is, and to know that even tho he never attained the reputation of a John Wayne, He will always be a hero for me, and a truly grand actor, in my view.

This person is would not know a good movie if it reached out and clobbered them! All you have to do is look at all the other reviews and see that this person is a 'JOKE'! The ending of the movie was perfectly done and as a whole the movie was one of the best I have seen in a long time! I really felt moved by how the whole town came out and gave this little girl Christmas in November so that she would be able to have Christmas at home since she was most likely going to have to spend it in the hospital.

The only thing that I found wrong with the film was that it seemed as if they left us hanging on the story of the teenage writer who befriended the little girl. It would have been nice to know what happened to her in the future.