Mrs. Miracle (2009)

Every time this comes on, and once I catch a glimpse, I have to keep watching. The acting of the two leads, Van der Beek and Karpluk is top notch, and that indefinable certain something between them, Chemistry, is there in spades. You genuinely become invested in them. They play two good people with shadows in their past that is preventing them from being happy and living their best lives. In his case, his grief over the death of his wife is keeping him closed off from his sons and moving on. He has cut music and playing the piano out of his life. In her case, her anger and bitterness with her sister for stealing her fiancé in the worst possible way has kept her from reconciling with her and negatively impacting her whole family. With the help of Doris Roberts and a few strategically placed "miracles", she helps them see their way clear to dealing with their pasts and finding happiness and fulfillment with each other and their families. It never fails to bring tears of happiness.

And amazingly, his name is entirely missing from the IMDb credits for the movie! He's not the only focal point. But JAMES VAN DER BEEK has the principal role in this story about a widower who needs a housekeeper who can deal with his two rambunctious boys--and stumbles across romance with plucky ERIN KARPLUK.Both are hurt from their previous romantic encounters and have to find true love through forgiveness and the machinations of a fairy-tale figure who becomes his housekeeper, nimbly played by DORIS ROBERTS.The Christmas program part of the story is the weakest sequence in the whole made-for-TV movie. But because the cast is refreshingly natural (the two boys are excellent), and because James Van Der Beek is exceptionally sincere as the boy's young father (especially in his scenes with Erin), the predictable tale stays afloat because of the charming way it's told.Recommended viewing around the holidays--even if there is an air of deja vu about the whole thing.

Most Christmas movie plots are pretty predictable, and this one is no exception. It has the standard Christmas elements: new nanny; recalcitrant kid/kids; widow/widower; chip---or memory---on the shoulder; mistaken perceptions; happy ending with the girl/boy marrying,or at least dating seriously. It only lacks a 'real' Santa Claus figure in the plot, or maybe a reindeer or two. And despite the hype about the writer, it's just a Christmas oriented 'Nanny McPhee.' Consequently, this is not an impressive work of art for the writer, Debbie Macomber. But, for Christmas movies, it's good. And I've chosen to watch it more than once.

I for one enjoyed it. It felt a little rushed sometimes and like they could have expanded on a few things, but it was still cute and I'll buy it on DVD. James Van Der Beek and Erin Karpluck had some great chemistry. I would have loved to have seen more of that with the story expanding just a little more on their characters' courtship. The Christmas program left much to be desired but it wasn't the focus of the story so we'll forgive them that one. I do have one severe gripe and I've seen this many times over in movies that have a similar conflict with a specific character. With the back story between Reba and her sister I felt dissatisfied with Reba finally just showing up on her doorstep. If I were her I'd have a few more things to say and a few questions I wanted answered. Yes, perhaps they did talk and we weren't intended to see it but I would have liked to. In my mind it's no longer about the guy for Reba. He's long gone anyway and she's better off without him. It's about what her sister did and what would drive a sister to go that far. Mere competitiveness seems too trivial for a betrayal of that magnitude. So I would have liked to see that conversation. I would also have liked to see Seth at the piano in their home before his final decision to play at the pageant. I realize they probably wanted to emphasize his return by him just showing up but I would have liked to see it anyway. This movie wasn't really meant to be a nail-biter, after all. Still, as I said, I enjoyed it and I'll be happy to have a copy when it's released on DVD. I was definitely more pleased with this than National Tree or Flower Girl.