I love Olivia Newton-John and have been a fan since 1974 during her country/pop crossover stuff. Her turn in "Grease" made her a Megastar. When I read she was making a Christmas movie I couldn't wait to see it and after "Xanadu" and "Two Of A Kind" I had some high hopes. Guess my hopes were a tad too high as I really didn't get into this movie one bit. If one really watches it can see it was a custom made role for ONJ who was into family friendly projects due to her own daughter. But let's not push all the blame on Olivia but let's look at it as a whole.
First off it's a fantasy and even a fantasy can overdo it and that was the case here. A widowed father accepts a strange lady into his home and has no issues with it. A little girl feeling alone during the holidays because her mother passed away and she misses her. A mannequin dresser feels sorry for her and grant's her a wish to have a mother for the Christmas holiday. A overworked dad has no time for his daughter because work comes first yet somehow show's no signs of sorrow for his late wife. A thin often told plot but no real story to support it.
I expected a lot more from this movie and I will be honest that Doug Sheehan and Doris Roberts are favorites of mine not to mention Olivia Newton-John. Yes it's a TV movie and yes it's a fantasy and one where they could have pushed the envelope and still kept it family friendly. The whole plotline to me is thin and was for what I saw a vehicle to feature Olivia Newton-John and nothing more. I do have the DVD but rarely what it. I don't mind fantasies but when they don't really tell a good story they tend to become boring.
I'm not sure if anyone could have saved this from becoming just another Christmas movie. Even the house fire scene wasn't that powerful. Want to watch a mannequin come to life movie I'd recommend "Mannequin". Many have given this movie high ratings mainly for (I believe) Olivia Newton-John starring in it but she isn't a actress who could have pulled this role off and come out a winner. Again I'm a huge fan of her's but this movie to me was a time waster and nothing more.
First off it's a fantasy and even a fantasy can overdo it and that was the case here. A widowed father accepts a strange lady into his home and has no issues with it. A little girl feeling alone during the holidays because her mother passed away and she misses her. A mannequin dresser feels sorry for her and grant's her a wish to have a mother for the Christmas holiday. A overworked dad has no time for his daughter because work comes first yet somehow show's no signs of sorrow for his late wife. A thin often told plot but no real story to support it.
I expected a lot more from this movie and I will be honest that Doug Sheehan and Doris Roberts are favorites of mine not to mention Olivia Newton-John. Yes it's a TV movie and yes it's a fantasy and one where they could have pushed the envelope and still kept it family friendly. The whole plotline to me is thin and was for what I saw a vehicle to feature Olivia Newton-John and nothing more. I do have the DVD but rarely what it. I don't mind fantasies but when they don't really tell a good story they tend to become boring.
I'm not sure if anyone could have saved this from becoming just another Christmas movie. Even the house fire scene wasn't that powerful. Want to watch a mannequin come to life movie I'd recommend "Mannequin". Many have given this movie high ratings mainly for (I believe) Olivia Newton-John starring in it but she isn't a actress who could have pulled this role off and come out a winner. Again I'm a huge fan of her's but this movie to me was a time waster and nothing more.