Trailer—We Need A Little Christmas

source: We Need a Little Christmas

It's hard to put my finger on why this movie was appealing for me, but it really captured my attention and I could easily watch it again (and have!). For starters, the lead actress, Erica, did not initially seem affable to me. She seemed cold and insensitive. Whether intentional or not, her son in the movie seemed to reflect that coldness right back to her; it reminds me of people in real life that are emotionally stunted and how their parents often are the same way. However, when met with the warmth of a caring adult, her son blossomed and became engaged with life again. The message this sends could be useful for almost anyone, because it really is true: we get what we give, and when we are hiding our feelings, no one is fooled. I loved the restaurant owner, and he actually looks/acts like someone I know in my own life. His character was almost impossible to not like, because he had no baggage, no issues, and constantly took care of others. I especially loved Irene. The first time I saw the movie, I felt a little annoyed at her involvement, but I had not actually watched from the very start. The moment that she meets Gavin and tries to relate to him, it's easy to see that she is authentically interested in setting him at ease. She has no need to fill gaps in her own full life, and genuinely wants to help MANY people, not just Gavin. I have to admit that I am not a fan of the character that Julie is. She is struggling with a massive life change, which softens my view of her, but the character lacked amiable warmth, humility, and a general ability to "read the room". Honorable mention to the Nadine character; I actually think she and the restaurateur should get together. Irene/ Lynn Whitfield is a beautiful person; I noticed she is from Louisiana, which isn't surprising. I hope she continues to appear in more films! On a side note: I appreciated the way that Hallmark verified the dates they used. When Irene is retelling her grandson's life journey, the dates seem to add up with history and the ages. This is something other reviewers like to harp on for other movies, so in this case, I did have to mention that Hallmark did a fantastic job with accuracy. A+ for a different story line than the usual ones, attractive settings, and believability. Extra credit for supporting actors being awesome.

I've seen this movie a few times already. It's sweet and different from the usual feel good Hallmark movie. I love the actor who plays the son, Gavin. Aziel Dalman. He is just the sweetest boy and perfect for the role he plays. I think he's the star of the movie. It's a great movie for the holidays and I'll be watching it every year now. Another plus is that it did not have the gratuitous snowball fight or kiss at the end of the movie. Hallmark proved that they can stray from the usual predictable script. I hope they will produce more original material. Lately Hallmark has been doing just that.

No spoilers here, as that would be unfair to the new viewers of this heart warming story. The actors all played their parts convincingly and with sincerity. No one would dispute that the story of a widower raising her young son alone and coping with family emotions around Christmas has been over done more than we would like to see. Having said that, I thought I had the film pegged right as just another "tug at your heart strings" drama under the guise of Christmas. But I will be the first to admit that I was wrong. I will also admit that this film did in fact tug at my heart strings and in so doing I shed a few tear drops, and they were happy teardrops. Very happy teardrops. The gist of the story really is about friends helping friends, and so I thought this Christmas themed film should be more appropriately re-titled the Beatles hit song "With a Little Help from My Friends". I give the film a praise worthy 7 out of 10 IMDb rating.

This is the story of Julie a new widow and single mom, who is looking at spending her first Christmas without her husband. She moves to a new neighborhood across town (I am not sure why she would want to uproot her son who is already dealing with loss) and has this big plan to do all the Christmas traditions with her son Gavin...only Gavin doesn't seem to be having any of it. Thankfully Gavin meets their next door neighbor played by Lynn Whitfield. Lynn Whitfield had to be the kindest and most understanding neighbor. She not only takes Gavin under her wing, but helps his mom realize she can't do it on her own. Inspired by her neighbor, Julie becomes a better person and honestly a better mom. This is a little sad for a Christmas movie...but the messages are good and it has the obligatory happy ending. Romantics will appreciate this film.

When I saw the initial fan rating of 6.6, I didn't expect this movie to move me as powerfully as it did. Yes, I had to wipe my eyes a couple of times as the wrenching family dramas and pains grew poignant, but it wasn't excessive and I never felt that Hallmark was just manipulating the situation to make me cry. What impressed me the most was how congruent and consistent the acting and writing was throughout the movie. Usually, I can spot a couple of fake moments or times when a character doesn't seem to really believe what they're doing or saying, and there were none of those incidents in this one. My biggest fear about 3/4 of the way through came when the female lead decides to try to help her neighbor's grandson come home from 2000 miles away when there was no way he could make it to the Christmas Eve dinner. Sometimes we get over-the-top military "pull" that someone figures out to accomplish this miracle, but this time, a little-too-easy solution of a cargo transport has room to load the military doctor to get to a domestic flight that sort of arrives just in the nick of time for our expected happy ending. The movie was a 10 until we played that final card but it was done well-enough that I loved the overall effect and wish to watch it again and again. Thanks Hallmark!

I cannot believe that I'm saying this but for me there was too little Christmas in here. The story is actually ok, but it could have been so much more. The acting was off, especially from creepy neighbour lady. At certain points, her acting was freaking me out. This could have easily gone over to a horror movie where neighbour lady gains the trust of the boy and got rid of the mom because she misses having a kid in her life or whatever. The christmas theme was for me not enough to bring the whole thing together. This could have easily been for thanksgiving, or any other 'special day' where she would have liked to have her grandson there and surprise surprise he made it!

Erica Durance was very convincing as a woman (Julie) juggling a lot of challenges and emotions. She had to deal with being there for her son, who lost his father, while dealing with her own pain in losing her husband, all while trying to keep her business (and self esteem) afloat. Her character's frustration was believable, and the writers made sure to show that she wasn't perfect (who is?). Still, having a huge pile of unopened mail sitting on a table, in full view of every client who comes into her office, was a bit much, especially when her assistant pointed it out and offered to take care of it. That scene really bugged me. But her jealous overreaction to Irene's growing connection to Julie's son seemed more realistic. At first, I thought Lynn Whitfield might be overacting a bit as the perpetually upbeat neighbor Irene. But then I realized that her character has a theatrical background and it made a little bit more sense. I thought Julie's growing attraction to Peter (played by Patrick Sabongui) was also believable. He seemed like a nice guy. Gavin, Julie's son, was played by Azriel Dalman and I thought he did a nice job of playing a conflicted and confused little boy. Overall, I thought it was a solid effort.

The movie was decent. Th3 acting was good. There was nothing in it that made me want to watch it again in a hurry. Th3 neighbor was great and the lead male and f3male worked. Didn't see chemistry but wasn't necessarily their fault. The writing left more areas trying to incorporayeneighbor but didn't build chemistry. I would have hoped they acted more bonded like watching Christmas on my mind or one of my other favorites. Christmas in homestead worked it all. Need to pickup the pause in these or justspend logical time building chemistry versus trying to get the viewer to assume they have it. Spend more than 10 minutes to make the movie.