A Town Without Christmas (2001) (TV)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Andy Wolk

Writer (WGA):

Michael J. Murray (written by)

Release Date:

16 December 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Family

Plot:

In the small town of Seacliff, Wash., a child's letter to Santa Claus captures the nation's attention. When the little boy, Chris, writes that he wishes to leave this world so he will no longer be a burden to his divorcing parents, a race begins to find him before he harms himself.

Plot Keywords:

Christmas

Cast

Patricia Heaton	...	M.J. Jensen
Rick Roberts	...	David Reynolds
Ernie Hudson	...	Ted
Isabella Fink	...	Megan
Jeffrey R. Smith	...	Syd
Daniel Kash	...	Mayor Dennis
Marnie McPhail	...	Isabel
Peter Falk	...	Max
Cassie MacDonald	...	Brittany
Jeremy Akerman	...	Sheriff Bridges
Nigel Bennett	...	Literary Agent
Faith Ward	...	Mrs. Hargrave
Stacey Smith	...	Rhonda
Bill Carr	...	David's Boss
Martha Irving	...	Sally

Runtime:

Japan:91 min | USA:120 min (including commercials)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Iceland:L | Germany:6 | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Chester, Nova Scotia, Canada

Company:

Daniel H. Blatt Productions

Quotes:

Max: I'll have a brandy Alexander. I like drinks with strippers' names.

Movie Connections:

Followed by When Angels Come to Town (2004) (TV)

A Town With a Christmas Mystery

Who's Chris? Where's Chris? MJ's there to find out. Why was the star named MJ? I found that to be mildly distracting considering how world famous the original MJ is... Michael Jordan. And what was that bit about gun control? It really didn't interfere with the movie at all but why it was mentioned was a little puzzling. I believe the only reason it was in there was not political but just to show that MJ is a hard news journalist and not the ditzy glamour girl sorority chick wannabe news anchor. Anyway, MJ's off to find Chris and from there the mystery begins. What didn't really work about this movie is the town of Seacliff wasn't really a town facing no Christmas. They were only facing not having their Christmas Pageant and having their holiday season under financial hardship due to a dying local economy. From the title alone I was expecting the mayor had canceled Christmas or something. The cause of the town's economic problems was something much more political than the minute and half about guns. Why their Christmas was in danger was because of the dam/salmon problem. One more travesty of America is the damage dams have done to fish & wildlife. To try to put that situation in the limelight here just kinda failed because truly a whole movie could be made centering around that problem. Aside from that the whole town was also looking for Chris before he kills himself on Christmas Eve. The mystery involved was interesting for a Christmas movie and the little girl Megan was very charming. Unfortunately, something else the story lacked was more about how her family has been torn apart by the dammed river and her dad being mayor. They really skimped on that when it was actually very integral to the whole story. Also integral to the story was Peter Falk's mysterious character. Simply awesome he was here. My face lit up with the biggest, brightest smile each time he was on screen. He single handedly added the Christmas warmth to this movie. Had it not been for Mr. Falk, this would have been a rather bland Christmas movie but his appearance added what it needed to achieve a decent grade from me. His appearance alone is why I'd watch this again someday otherwise there's not much that's very special about this. Somewhat different but nothing spectacular; decent and charming, this gets a C+