I'd give this movie an A for effort, but more like a C for execution. It was a heartwarming movie, and it really made you feel for old Mr. Landis and his lonely plight. The final reunion scene of Mr. Landis with his son was extremely touching, and you had to be a real Grinch if you didn't shed a tear or two, or at least give a warm smile to this satisfying end to the Christmas mystery of why he put that tree on his roof, year after year. The actors did a fine job, especially Tim Reid as Mr. Landis and Michelle Morgan as Sarah. Their performances were truly heartfelt.
It's sad that such a touching tale was saddled with such inept screenwriters, though. There were way too many cringe moments for me. The dialog was incredibly stilted at times. I call it Hallmark-speak (although this technically wasn't a Hallmark production). The storyline was also pretty unbelievable. So, they're really going to throw a guy in jail for something so trivial as putting a Christmas tree on top of his house? And how is this supposedly a danger and a fire hazard? That's never explained. Also, the idea that the only way Mr. Landis could reconnect with his son was to put a Christmas tree on his house every year? Really? If he cared so much about his son, why didn't he sue for visitation rights? Why didn't he hire a private investigator to track down his son after his mom changed his name? Just putting up a Christmas tree in faint hope that his son would happen to drive by and see it, and then having the son actually drive by exactly on Christmas Eve -- well, you're just asking the audience to suspend too much disbelief there.
The whole romance between lawyer Sarah and opposing counsel John was handled pretty clumsily, too. They went way too fast from being enemies to lovers, and there was too little development. So, he gives her a tuna sandwich and shares a couple of personal stories with her, and they immediately kiss? And then, when she thinks he has a secret girlfriend (actually, his sister), she acts all offended, like she's been cheated on, even though there is no committed relationship between the two of them? Sorry, the whole relationship just felt unnatural.
One more thing that really bugged me. As others have mentioned, Sarah's parents looked way too young to have been her parents. Is there really such a dearth of older actors out there that this movie couldn't have cast actors to play her parents who were more age appropriate? They had no problem finding an older guy to play the judge, after all.
So, as much as I found this movie heartwarming and wanted to like it, there were just too many things wrong with it for me to give it an enthusiastic recommendation.
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