Movie number 5: One Magic Christmas
Starring Harry Dean Stanton, Mary Steenburgen, Gary Basaraba, Arthur Hill, Sarah Polley, and Michelle Meyrink (plus Elias Koteas - had to mention that...I'm a big fan)
It is Christmas season and Christmas angels are getting their assignments to help others. Gideon has been assigned to help Ginny Grainger discover the true meaning of Christmas and the joy that she had lost along the way which is likely to happen when life gets you down. The Grainger family has had it rough. Jack lost his job at the factory six months ago, and Ginny has been doing her best to make ends meet with her job as a cashier in a grocery store. Needless to say, things are not working out well. The Grainger kids have the Christmas spirit as does Jack who spends time working on a bike for a gift for a poor neighbor and doing a little dreaming of a shop of his own. Ginny just doesn't have room in her busy schedule for more than taking care of business which also involves the family moving out of their home (that is owned by the company her husband no longer works for). Gideon has his work cut out for him.
My review: One Magic Christmas is a gem. With an angel, children, parents, a struggling town and Santa, it has everything a movie needs to have in order to give a lift to the spirit during the holiday season. There is a life change and a little magic sprinkled in the story. It is sweet without being over the top. It came out in 1985, and somehow I never saw it. By the way, I'm glad I didn't because it was lovely coming across it this week. It is available via streaming on Netflix. Catch it, you'll like it. I'd rate it 4 candy canes on a scale of 1 - 5.
