Three Days (2001)

A few years ago, I turned on ABC family in hopes of being treated to a nice average quality holiday movie (mostly as a time killer). What I found was this film. I sat through the two hour movie and was kept glued to the TV every minute. After the two hours were over I had found a new Christmas classic.The story is about a literary agent Andrew Farmer (Reed Diamond), who during a business trip comes dangerously close to having an affair. He returns to his house on Christmas eve to find his wife Beth (Kristin Davis) who thinking he cheated, storms out of their apartment in anger, only to be hit by a car and killed.An angel (Tim Meadows) comes to Andrew and offers him of a very special gift. He will get to relive the last 3 days over again; however there is a catch. After those three days Beth will still die. But he can use that time to prove to her how much he loves her.During those 3 days they return to their home town and Andrew reconnects to a version of himself that he thought was long gone while rediscovering his love for his wife. But when the angel reappears and hints there may be a way to prevent the current course of events if he truly convinces his wife he still loves her, Andrew must race against the clock to find the perfect Christmas gift for her.One of the best things about this movie is the casting. Reed Diamond and Kristin Davis have great chemistry together, and it is really believable that they actually are husband and wife. Tim Meadows takes a drastic move from his usual comical roles and does a great job as the somber and wise angel who gives Andrew this magical gift.The movie may be a bit saccharine at times and it is a little predictable, but considering that it is made for TV and a Christmas movie (two genres that have overwhelmingly been dominated by garbage) the producers of this movie came out with flying colors.The only question is why they decided to make this straight to TV. Considering the quality, with a few tiny adjustments, this movie could have easily been released in theatres.Hopefully, ABC will wise up and release this one on DVD.Overall it was a great movie to watch during the holiday season and I recommend it to everyone. Definitely one of my favorite Christmas movies.

Watchable and feel-good in the "It's a Wonderful Life" style, but nowhere near as clever as It's a Wonderful Life. Stereotyped characters, script is sugary and predictable, a 10 year old could have written it. Overall, not one to pay to watch.It had everything you would expect from a sugary movie - an irritating angel, snow, Christmas trees, children and candy, saving a child's life (including a very bad demonstration of CPR - you wouldn't save anybody's life if you did it like that), childhood reminiscences, parental reconciliations, refusal to participate in an extra-marital affair, morality lessons etc, etc.

I've just seen this film after flicking through the channels and it was about as subtle as a sledgehammer. In the first twenty minutes it became obvious as soon as Kristin Davis' character found the dog Lulu that she was going to get hit by a car.Even though I was aware it wasn't going to be the most intelligent film I've seen it did start showing potential when Diamond's character met Lionel. Unfortunately this opportunity to do something vaguely interested was blown away as soon as he freely admitted to being an angel.What followed was your usual Movie Land Christmas Sentimental fare. Snow ball fights, Christmas trees etc. As the film got closer to its end I found myself hoping that it would be allowed to finish with a little mystery or even perhaps an unconventional happy ending but that turned out to be wishful thinking. It soon became obvious that he would have to give up his own life which he did. Unfortunately though, the film makers pushed a little too hard for a happy ending which left us with the last minute, the most unbearable, saccharine filled conclusion I've seen in a while.In general the cast is below par. As another reviewer pointed out, Diamond's character is almost moronic at points and I still resent Lionel being so open about who he was so some of his rather poor jokes only compounded my dislike of him, Davis though gets to stand out with her acting.Overall it's no where near being great but it's a nice little movie to watch on a quiet winters afternoon, just make sure you switch it off once Reed Diamond has died.

Not worthy of an Oscar, but then how many films are? Perfect viewing for a lazy Sunday, with popcorn and a mug of hot chocolate. Kristin Davis is ideally suited as the wife who is killed in a car accident on christmas eve. Her neglectful husband is given the last three days of her life to prove his love to her. The perfect, made for tv movie. Best still, it doesn't irritate the tear ducts and there is just enough saccharine to stomach!! Recommended!