Well, whaddaya know - every small town that someone moves back "home" to from the big city doesn't have to be in the snowy mountains somewhere. Christmas can actually happen in small towns everywhere. And the move in this one is from Los Angeles where nine-year old Emily Parson has never seen a snowfall. She also didn't know her dad, who died when she was just two years old. So, after the trauma of leaving the place and people she knew, she settles into her new place rather quickly and easily. Helping her with this is a disappearing school janitor, Thomas, and her mom and the school music teacher, Danny Collier. He just happened to be a classmate of her mom in high school. But mom, Kristin, has a hard time remembering.
"A Christmas Melody" shows some things that most films like this don't. Kristin has a little denial thinking that she always loved growing up in Silver Falls, Ohio. But Danny recalls how she couldn't wait to leave to pursue her dreams. That helps explain her dim memory of him and other classmates and people she has trouble remembering. It's a characteristic of people - not wrong or bad or anything, just a characteristic of those who look to the future with big dreams to the point that they don't see and/or appreciate and live the moment and the people around them. Even after moving back home and getting a good feeling about it, Kristin doesn't understand this. She says to Danny, "That's the problem. I don't know where my future's going."
After Kristin couldn't make it with her own clothing design boutique, she moves way across country with her daughter. Back home, she has Aunt Sarah who owns a local diner. I think that's overdone as a part of so many of these films, but it's probably an easier thing for the writers rather than having people meeting on and off in stores and other places. A very cute aspect of the story is the appearances of Thomas at times with Emily, and then his sudden disappearance when she turns around. She soon makes the connection of who he really is. The story has a nice build up and completion.
The cast are all quite good. Mariah Carey plays a snooty, local bigwig who looks down her nose at Kristin until the end. She does that role very well, so that the audience knows it will relish her comeuppance. But that turns out nice because of the nice nature of this story and film. Oh, and the connection will quickly be evident between the characters of a disappearing Tom, Santa Claus, and a poor street beggar at the start of the film. That's when Kristin stops to give him the only money she has on her -- the first $5 she made in her boutique business, after she closes her shop for good.
Most people should enjoy this as a nice Christmas holiday film with a different enough story, good plot and very good cast. Here are a couple favorite lines from the film.
Emily Parson, repeating to her mom what she heard from Thomas, "Well, if you act negative, you can't expect anything positive to happen."
Hayley, Kristin's friend from L. A., "He thinks you're moving to L. A., so he's doing that mean boy thing." Aunt Sarah, "Oh, she's right. Why he pretends he doesn't care because he knows you're leaving."
"A Christmas Melody" shows some things that most films like this don't. Kristin has a little denial thinking that she always loved growing up in Silver Falls, Ohio. But Danny recalls how she couldn't wait to leave to pursue her dreams. That helps explain her dim memory of him and other classmates and people she has trouble remembering. It's a characteristic of people - not wrong or bad or anything, just a characteristic of those who look to the future with big dreams to the point that they don't see and/or appreciate and live the moment and the people around them. Even after moving back home and getting a good feeling about it, Kristin doesn't understand this. She says to Danny, "That's the problem. I don't know where my future's going."
After Kristin couldn't make it with her own clothing design boutique, she moves way across country with her daughter. Back home, she has Aunt Sarah who owns a local diner. I think that's overdone as a part of so many of these films, but it's probably an easier thing for the writers rather than having people meeting on and off in stores and other places. A very cute aspect of the story is the appearances of Thomas at times with Emily, and then his sudden disappearance when she turns around. She soon makes the connection of who he really is. The story has a nice build up and completion.
The cast are all quite good. Mariah Carey plays a snooty, local bigwig who looks down her nose at Kristin until the end. She does that role very well, so that the audience knows it will relish her comeuppance. But that turns out nice because of the nice nature of this story and film. Oh, and the connection will quickly be evident between the characters of a disappearing Tom, Santa Claus, and a poor street beggar at the start of the film. That's when Kristin stops to give him the only money she has on her -- the first $5 she made in her boutique business, after she closes her shop for good.
Most people should enjoy this as a nice Christmas holiday film with a different enough story, good plot and very good cast. Here are a couple favorite lines from the film.
Emily Parson, repeating to her mom what she heard from Thomas, "Well, if you act negative, you can't expect anything positive to happen."
Hayley, Kristin's friend from L. A., "He thinks you're moving to L. A., so he's doing that mean boy thing." Aunt Sarah, "Oh, she's right. Why he pretends he doesn't care because he knows you're leaving."