By Forris Day Jr.
Amazon.com’s favorite time of year is here….I mean Christmas is here. I say that kiddingly but in reality we as Americans have become a nation of consumers who need to constantly be buying stuff to make us happy. Think about it. Buying material things doesn’t really make anyone happy for long term. Many people live far above their means. Many people work all the hours they can so that they can pay the never ending credit card bills for junk they can’t even remember buying. OK, I’m off my soapbox.
“A Christmas Tree Miracle” is a heartwarming Christmas movie that touches on this very subject. It’s a film about the George Family who live the “good life” as an upper class family in the suburbs. The husband, David, (Kevin Sizemore) has a great paying job but is preoccupied with work all the time. His wife Julie (Claudia Esposito) is stressed trying to constantly please everyone in the family and the two teenage kids Nick (Barrett Carnahan) and Natalie (Emily Capehart) are vile little creatures who want and expect to get whatever it is they think they need at any given moment with no thought as to how much things cost. There is also a very young daughter, Nina, (Siomha Kenney) who is the only one that has any appreciation for anything. A dysfunctional family for sure but probably more common than we would like to admit.
The family is turned upside down when David loses his job. At first the entire family is in denial and continue to spend money at a ridiculous rate thinking a job is just around the corner. A year goes by and we see their savings and material things disappear until alas they become homeless. With nowhere to go a kindly Christmas tree farmer, Henry Banks, (played by Terry Kiser…best known for his portrayal as Bernie in the film Weekend at Bernie’s) offers them shelter and jobs working on the farm. He decides to show them that it is the simple things in life that lead to true happiness. Will the family learn anything or will they just move on?
I definitely liked “A Christmas Tree Miracle” a lot. It is a well written movie although I must say I got a bit confused as I watched the character arcs, particularly on the Dad and the two teenage kids go a bit crooked. What I mean by that is just when you think they have their change of heart they go and do another nasty deed. The film could have been shortened a bit by losing some of the repetition to reaffirm to the viewer how selfish the characters could be. Just a small thing but it did confuse me slightly. The only other small thing was the way the film was colored. It had a washed out look that I would expect to see in a crime drama and not the vibrant colors I would expect to see in a Christmas tale.
With that said “A Christmas Tree Miracle” is a really festive and fun movie with a great lesson. The story was more involved than a standard Lifetime or Hallmark Channel movie, but it could certainly be run on either of those stations and fit right in. It is not a chick flick. Anyone could enjoy it. My wife loved it and she is a tough cookie when it comes to movies so bravo to the filmmakers on this one. Bottom line, anyone who enjoys heartwarming movies with substance in the storyline will love “A Christmas Tree Miracle”.
Purchase “A Christmas Tree Miracle”
