KathND80 I like a good sentimental holiday movie, but this one dragged on and did not interest anyone in the room. The rest of the family asked why I recorded it. Characters were hollow and poorly developed. While many cast members were great actors, the material left them with little to work with and their acting talent was not evident from this film. Plot lines were forced and incomplete. It felt like they just ran out of time and ended things. What was the deal with the guy in the ER? Did his resolution get edited out? When the movie was finally done we were left with the feeling of "what just happened her?" Was the angel figure theme supposed to mean anything? Just confusing. Does this want to be Love Actually? It's not.With so many holiday movies to choose from, I'd recommend moving on to another one. Want a sappy holiday movie - try Remember the Night or Christmas in Connecticut.

vernon-cockman I have never seen such rubbish, probably the biggest load of drivel I have ever seen. Soppy and. Stupid. Words fail me. How it ever got made will remain a mystery to me for as long as I live. Unbelievably bad...What on earth has happened to these recognized actors careers that they agreed to take part in this trash. We were four people watching this movie and none of us could take it seriously. It's no wonder Robin Williams took his own life after making this movie. He must have been so depressed it was the only way he could end the suffering. The story line was pathetic and a child could have written something better. This movie could not have covered the costs of making it...

jc-osms With some decent star power in the acting stakes I expected more from this confused mish-mash of a Christmas movie. The idea of entwining different individual stories into one isn't original but I thought that with a Yule-tide twist it might have come together better than it did.As usual, in the timeworn trail of George Bailey, we get a bunch of sad people at Christmas time needing a seasonal miracle to get them happily into the holiday spirit. However some of the stories are so slight and trite, they barely register, like the young man who deliberately gets himself hospitalised because he remembers a happy childhood Christmas there, away from his selfish parents, while in another bizarre episode, Alan Arkin is wasted as an old widower who tries to connect with a young cop, (Cruz's fiancé) telling him he's the reincarnation of his late wife.The main stories of lonely divorcée Susan Sarandon, with her Alzheimer's suffering mother meeting up with Robin Williams defrocked priest and Penelope Cruz as a young bride-to-be struggling with the jealousy of her fiancé, just about pass muster, but the movie falters when the stories shift focus, plus the editing is very poor. To give just one example, after Sarandon and Cruz fortuitously hook up early on in the piece, they opt out of the latter's family Christmas dinner, head to a café for what you'd expect to be a heart-to-heart chat, but which we actually never see happen and in fact they don't even meet up again. Indeed, the film doesn't really bring the five stories together at all, so that despite some decent acting by the principals it fails to gell and really transport the viewer into the Christmas spirit, even with some nice wintry New York city-scapes in the background.

Jackson Booth-Millard I found this film, and I had obviously never heard of it before reading about it, that is because it is a low budget independent film, but it was because of a good cast of stars I decided to try it. Basically it is Christmas Eve in New York City, and we see unconnected lives of people living in the city as they try to cope with their problems, all as difficult to deal with, even with the happy day approaching. Lonely divorced publisher Rose Collins (Susan Sarandon) is caring for her mother in hospital as she is suffering from Alzheimers disease, no longer recognising or communicating with her own daughter. Nina Vasquez (Penélope Cruz) is engaged to be married to cop Mike Riley (Paul Walker) who is constantly suspicious of her activities, which causes friction between the loving couple. Lonely bartender Artie Venzuela (Alan Arkin) is stalking Mike, believing he is the reincarnation of his dead wife, but a trip to hospital proves he is not the only person to hear this claim. Jules Calvert (Marcus Thomas) has not experienced a happy Christmas since he was last in hospital, and to try and reenact the enjoyment he had in this time he breaks his arm to have the warm spirit experience where he last had it, in hospital. Former priest Charlie Boyd (Robin Williams, who is uncredited) is a constant visitor for Rose's mother, and when he finds her thinking of suicide he comforts her and suggests talking and trying to make it through the night, and of course the spend the night together, he find himself able to find his faith again. In the end Mike sees poor Artie pass away, but he does get back Nina, Jules I suppose finds some solace, and Rose, after watching Charlie pass away peacefully, does find connection with her mother. Also starring The Usual Suspects' Chazz Palminteri, also directing as Arizona and Sonny Marinelli as Dennis. The cast do relatively well both to bring your spirits up and down, but ultimately to make you feel sympathy, Sarandon is alright as the woman trying to find a miracle through the despair, Walker, Cruz and Arkin do what they do fine, and Williams gets his time as the nice man, this is obviously the sort of film you would expect to see as an alternative and more serious Christmas movie, but it doesn't really do everything to pull you in with whatever silly twists it throws in, it is a slightly tedious, but not a completely awful seasonal drama. Okay!