Unlikely Angel (1996)

Rebounding from her first foray into seasonal TV-movie fare (the forgettable "Smoky Mountain Christmas" from 1986), Dolly Parton tries again with this holiday-themed, sentimental confection...and does a very commendable job. A down-on-her-luck singer named Ruby Diamond (!) gets herself into a fatal car wreck and is later turned away from Heaven by St. Peter until she earns her wings on Earth by bringing a dysfunctional family together (under the guise of a cleavage-baring nanny). The brood consists of a widower father (the eternally-constipated Brian Kerwin), his snotty teenage daughter and alienated young son (who joins Dolly in a piano-and-guitar duet on "Jingle Bells"!). Dolly doesn't have to work hard at this role--the writers have already supplied Ruby with an angelic disposition that is hard to humbug, a background in country music, and childhood memories that just reek of smoky mountain holidays in Tennessee. Director Michael Switzer keeps Dolly feisty and funny throughout, and her rapport with saint Roddy McDowall is sweet, but the movie isn't very enticing on an emotional level. The kids merit little interest, the relationships between the adults is occasionally unclear, and small details such as where Dolly hangs up her fabulous wardrobe remain sketchy at best.

I had never seen dolly in a movie,until seeing 9 to 5 and that was very good,but this movie,I'm not a great lover of this type of film and was apprehensive about,but after a couple of minutes and hearing dolly's fantastic voice I was completely sold. The film is the usual type,but dolly make it come to life. I go to nearly everyone of dolly's shows when she come to england.I would recommend this to any dolly fan,it's the best. The songs and the acting ability show by dolly is very good,she is a born actress of the highest quality. Long may she adorn the silvery screen and keep her fans happy we could be better it we had dolly over in england Peter Mckay

This is one of the best junk movies of all time -- a complete howler. Watching the constant changes of costume -- every single one of which grossly accentuates Ms. Parton's already overly prominent most famous assets (would you hire a nanny dressed like that?) -- is alone worth the price of a rental. Add a screenplay full of clunker lines, a supporting cast earnestly trying to make something of this syrupfest, and, best of all, a wildly retro concept of heaven, and you've got the ingredients for a movie so excruciatingly awful that, by some miracle of transference, it's really rather sublime.

Yawn... an amazing silly story and questionable actors.It's a real cheap plot and sort of a lousy christmas story - You will burst into tears about any money spend on this flick.Please don't waste Your time with such a movie.