This is a very good Christmas film that is sweet and funny, but avoids the sappy-ness of many family films. The story concerns a poor family in Austraila whose farm is threatened by a drought. The father worries that he won't have presents to give to his young son. The film has some great parts and the hilarious pig roast scene (remember, Christmas down under is in summer), would make the whole film worthwhile if it wasn't good already. The case of mistaken identity is very amusing and touching, and the landscapes are impressive. Some people may have actually seen this film without realizing it. It was also released in the US under the name "The Christmas Visitor" and in Austraila as "Bushfire Moon"--not sure on that last title. The film is really a change from all the clichéd, typical films seen in the US. I urge people to view this if they are sick of the same old Christmas fare.
2 Reviews
Moving and funny.
peacedovey20038 December 2010
Warning: Spoilers
If you want something new and a little out of the ordinary for Christmas movies, this is the one. Dee Wallace Stone plays an American woman married to an Australian man whom is a farmer. They have two children, an older daughter and a younger son. There is also a wealthy widowed Englishman with a son. (If my memory serves me right, I believe the Englishman's son is courting the farmer's daughter.) It is actually about two families dealing with different situations ( a drought being one of them) and is at times moving and at other times side-splitting in its humor (as mentioned before a scene with a roasted pig, a heat-exhausted guest, a screaming housekeeper, and a Yule log escaping the fireplace making for a very funny scene). It would be wonderful to see this come out on DVD because it really is a good Christmas movie. Well worth watching if you can find it. When I watched this movie the title was 'Miracle Down Under'.
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