November Christmas (2011)

November Christmas is a sentimental movie with not much of a festive theme until the end of the film.A Rhode Island community get together to help out the parents of a severely ill 8 year old girl. Sam Elliot is the curmudgeon who suffered a loss of a child some years earlier and recognises what John Corbett is going through and realise what he is up to.Fearing the worse Corbett wants to give his daughter an early Halloween and Christmas in case she does not make it through to the end of the year. The small town rally round once they find about the little girl's condition.The film is sentimental, light on plot but the direction is sensitive and the film is told in flash back which leads to an encouraging ending.

As I was flipping channels, looking for something interesting, I found November Christmas. As I checked on the information, I saw that Sam Elliot was in this movie. Enough for me to watch......I once read where he saw some parts that he had passed up on, then later thought that he could have done that...I have always admired his work and felt that he could have/should have been a mega star, very much in the caliber of John Wayne, just in our era of time.In my view, we do not have many actors in the caliber of our hero, John Wayne. Mr Elliot has stretched his acting legs many times, in different movies and different types of roles and he has excelled in each, as I expected.In "November Christmas", Sam plays an aging neighbor to a family in crisis.This family in crisis, allows him to do a "do over" from a crisis in his past. This is something that he missed in his real life, so he gets to address that concept on screen. Sam personifies someone that is bitter from circumstances of the past, who transforms into a wonderful, Grandfatherly figure, with a new opportunity to right the past. He does just that, in grand fashion. It is saddening for me to understand what his age is, and to know that even tho he never attained the reputation of a John Wayne, He will always be a hero for me, and a truly grand actor, in my view.

If all movies were like this I would actually watch TV or go to the movies! This was an excellent film, well written, well directed, well acted. It's all about relationships, and that's what life is about! Thanks to Hallmark for another outstanding performance and to the wonderful cast! I appreciated the fact that God and prayer were given proper respect and significance. I also appreciated the way our human condition (sickness, broken relationships, death) was dealt with as being a part of life. Life isn't always fair and hard times come, but the way we deal with it speaks of character and faith and perseverance, and taking joy where we find it. This is one movie that I would actually buy and make a family tradition to watch. Thank you!

A poignant story of families facing heartbreak with excellent acting, endearing characters and believability… UNTIL, very near the end… it suddenly becomes a moronic public service announcement. Several characters are gathered in the town diner when tired old clichés such as "that's what it's all about, isn't it ~ helping your neighbor and giving back" suddenly start tumbling out of everyone's mouth. It is mind boggling and such a departure from the rest of the movie which managed to be both heart wrenching and heart warming without having to explain to viewers, in the most condescending way, what it all meant. I was suddenly cured of any emotional connection to the characters as I watched this inane transition to PC drivel. All tears dried up but quick. Then, the ending… Gads, it was so cheesy and saccharine sweet. It was almost like a parody and did not belong in this movie. I cannot imagine what happened behind the scenes to ruin what could have been a first class motion picture. What an embarrassing ending.