A Christmas Wish (2011) Kristy Swanson, Edward Herrmann, K.C. Clyde, Tess Harper Movie Review

A Christmas Wish (2011)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Kristy Swanson in A Christmas Wish (2011)

Christmas Miracle in a Small Town

When her husband walks out on her Martha (Kristy Swanson - Dude, Where's My Car?) is left homeless and penniless with three kids to worry about, a car to try and keep going all of which during the lead up to Christmas. Having driven from town to town looking for work Martha eventually persuades a diner owner to let her work for next to nothing as next to nothing is better than how things are. It is not easy going especially when they have to stay in a motel and Martha has to let the children look after themselves. But maybe this is the town and the people which Martha needs to get her's and her family's lives back on track.

"A Christmas Wish" wants to be one of those touching, socially aware Christmas movies with a single mum on hard times finding herself given a chance to come good thanks to the kindness of a group of people who can see she needs help. And "A Christmas Wish" is a touching drama which quickly sets the formula in place when Martha begs for a job at a diner, offering to work for tips and finding the owner kind enough to give her a go whilst also giving her hungry children some food. If it didn't make it clear in that scene a further scene where a neighbour offers to arrange a baby sitter re-emphasizes what this movie's modus operandi is.

And of course this sort of touching Christmas drama is not complete without some touching romance and a wholesome, spiritual message as in kids pray, the locals are church goers, the realtor is the local pastor and so on. For some this will make "A Christmas Wish" far too cringe worthy but pleasant for those who seek something more wholesome with a strong message about doing good things and so on.

But whilst enjoyable "A Christmas Wish" is one of those movies which when you think about also fails. Here we have a single mum with three kids who is homeless and penniless who doesn't go to the state looking for some help. It just doesn't ring completely true and whilst this isn't reaching for gritty realism it is leading us to sympathise for this down on their luck family.

What this all boils down to is that "A Christmas Wish" is a pleasant and wholesome piece of Christmas entertainment with a strong heart warming message. But at the same time it struggles because of a basic issue in the storyline.

Tags: TV Christmas Movies, Christmas Movies


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