Good concept, poorly executed.

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

I saw this movie several times and always enjoyed it. I liked everything about it, except the annoying Jewel Staite. The plot is great!...quite refreshing!.....Doris Roberts is always fabulous!...the supporting players, the lines, directing, and scenery was great!....very appropriate!..A very nice Christmas movie....a very safe Christmas movie................ However, someone much better could have played the part Jewel Staite played. She can't act...she has an annoying voice AND an annoying appearance. Her clothes and hair were sloppy! But that is how she appears in another movie too...so it seems that SHE chooses her clothes for on the set.....and has a fear of hair stylists!................ No, that's not the "every day" woman look and the "natural" look. That's just plain poor taste and sloppy!....Handsome, decent, wealthy "Finlay" had to do some hard acting to try to convince movie-watchers that he would fall head over heels for her!

To my surprise, this turns out to be one of my favorites among the many "Made for Television" holiday movies. The cast is an ensemble that does this heart warming story justice. It has a number of inner stories that all seem to get tied together in the end. Obviously, the love interest, but also the father who has stopped celebrating, the child taken away from a father by the war, the up and coming designer trying to make a go of it, the son who is trying to show his worth, and a number of other little threads to get tied together. And, you cannot miss Lauren Holly as the fashion designer. She is hilarious. There is a little something for everyone. Just a simple Christmas story to sit back and make you appreciate the holidays and bring a smile or two. If you don't like this one, you should probably be celebrating a different holiday.

I had just finished reading Debbie Macomber's book that this movie is based on and when I saw that there was a movie for it I was beyond thrilled. The movie appeared to hold a worthwhile cast and who doesn't love Doris Roberts? However, after watching the film, which I can honesty say was an effort in itself, I was unimaginably disappointed.First off, they have completely re-arranged the story from what was in the book. Now, I understand that screenwriters have creative license when converting a book into a movie, but my God! The ONLY resemblance to the book is the characters names! In the book: Jake Finnley's argument with his father is because Jake ordered 500 Inteletron robots on a hunch they would fly off the shelves. His father JR is furious and worried the store would be losing money because in the current economy, no one can afford a 200.00 robot. The majority of the story centers around Gabe wanting this robot and his Aunt Holly trying to find a way to pay for it, while not intruding on a budding relationship with Jake.In the Movie: Jake's father is upset because he DIDN'T order any Inteletrons as Jake is hoping that people will go back to old fashioned toys for the kids. Gabe is left to learn the true meaning of Christmas by having older toys like train sets and the like pushed at him.I found that this single change drastically alters the entire story. Not only that, but I assumed with a cast like Doris Roberts and Loren Holly it would be a wonderful holiday film. Instead, the acting was hollow, Lauren looked plastic and talked like a wind up doll for the entire movie, and the match making was a farce. The only decent quality in the whole film was the kid, whom I suspected wrote the script because real adults do not talk like that! So, buy it if you like a formula story, pushy morality, bad/sad acting and scary botoxed babes, for anyone else stay away.

Beautiful film very romantic and brings up feeling of a happy time. Perfect for watching at Christmas when we all need a little magic, real life is so miserable and dull its lovely to escape to a film when good things do actually happen. I loved the character of Mrs. Merkle she was the sort of nosy old dear that we all love and listen to, without realising that she is helping us. Very well acted and lovable role. The relationship between aunt and nephew was great so true to life, aunt trying to care and do all the "right" things with healthy food etc then realising that the child is grown up and needs a friend. This film has true Christmas and family values and bring hope some lovely messages at a special time of year, including the fact that service men often miss these special times with their children. Well done after seeing this had to see the original film, wish they were on DVD.