The Christmas Hope (2009 TV Movie) User Reviews (12)

Very touching family movie

[vsrinidhi-rao · 8/10 · 25 December 2010]

Watched this movie on Christmas morning. The plot is quite simple and straightforward but the connections between the various actors makes it interesting.

A single mom dies on her way to work just a few days before Christmas leaving behind a young girl Emily. Social services (Patricia Addison) comes in and since none of the foster families want to take in another child, she offers to keep the girl for a few days until they can find the next of kin. She has already lost her son a few years back around Christmas and is still grieving which takes her farther away from her husband - an airline pilot.

Over the course of the movie, the couple get attached to the girl and plan to adopt her.

In all, a nice movie - few touching scenes.

Hope you find time to watch this lovely film, during the Holidays or anytime

[inkblot11 · 8/10 · 23 August 2012]

Patty (Madeleine Stowe) is awakened in the wee hours of the morning and handed a baby girl named Mia. As a social worker, she is used to emergency calls and it will be her job to find a foster home for the child ASAP. Fortunately, a foster family says yes, for Christmas is but a few days away. Patty goes home at the end of the work day and finds that her pilot husband, Mark (James Remar) is back for a spell. But, something is amiss between the two of them, as they have never fully recovered from the death of their own teenage son two years ago. Meanwhile, a little girl, Emily has been promised a special Christmas gift by her working, single mother, as soon as she gets done with her waitress shift. But, alas, her mother is in a car accident and can't return. Soon, Emily is dropped off at Patty's, too, for it is late in the evening and no one else can take her. So, another foster family has to be willing to welcome Emily. This time, Patty can't place her immediately but finds out there is an uncle who may be able to accept her in a few days. Since Christmas is so close, Mark feels it is best to give Emily a traditional Holiday, with a tree and such. But, Patty doesn't feel up to it and they argue. Also, a young doctor (Ian Ziering) and his wife are expecting their first child. Will happiness come to these nice folks at Xmas? This is a lovely film about family, loss, and new beginnings. With a nice cast, a touching script, lovely photography and a caring direction, it is a very uplifting experience. Therefore, if you are in search of a family flick which has the capacity to restore spirits, get Christmas Hope. Soon.

Madeline Stowe Elevates This and Makes Well Worth Watching

[Christmas-Reviewer · 8/10 · 16 March 2017]

BEWARE OF BOGUS REVIEWS. SOME REVIEWERS HAVE ONLY ONE REVIEW. WHEN ITS A POSITIVE REVIEW THAT TELLS ME THEY WERE INVOLVED WITH THE PRODUCTION. IF ITS A NEGATIVE REVIEW THEN THEY MIGHT HAVE A GRUDGE AGAINST THAT PRODUCTION. NOW I HAVE REVIEWED OVER 200 Christmas MOVIES. I HAVE NO AGENDA. I AM FARE ABOUT THESE FILMS.

When I put this on I had no idea what the story was about. I like doing this because I like to be surprised. "Christmas Movies" are always predictable and this one has that type of ending but the journey to the end is clever but also very sad.

*******Spoilers Ahead******* In this film a social (Madeline Stowe) take in a child at Christmas time. the little girl mother just died. The social worker also lost her only child just 2 years ago. Her marriage is at a breaking point her husband begs her to let the little stay in the home until Christmas.

This film is very well made. I loved Madeline's performance. She doesn't play her her character as someone with a "Cold Heart". She plays a woman who is stuck in the moment when she herd that her son died in an accident. James Remar plays her husband and plays him well. Everything in this film is very believable on how most people would act in the situation that they find themselves in.

There is also 2 subplots that help tie everyone together.

Now this film is family safe. Small children can watch but they will be bored.

If you like watching "Hallmark Christmas Films" then you will love this. They don't get much better than this.

Accidental Family Values

[wes-connors · 6/10 · 30 November 2012]

As Christmas approaches, a tragic circumstance brings a small group of people together for a blessed holiday. Young single mother Devon Weigel (as Traci Adams) figures most in the early running, but this TV-movie focuses on social worker Madeleine Stowe (as Patricia "Patty" Addison) and her pilot husband James Remar (as Mark). This couple has been suffering since the death of their college-aged son in a car accident. He (Daniel Boiteau in flashbacks) was admitted to the hospital by Dr. Ian Ziering (as Nathan Andrews), who is looking forward to becoming a new father...

The Lord moves in mysterious ways..

When there is no foster home for cute Tori Barban (as Emily), Ms. Stowe takes her home for the holidays. The young girl begins to bond with Stowe and Mr. Remar. You will be able to figure out how it all ends for the family. The story is extremely contrived, but nicely performed and directed (by Norma Bailey). The production values are just perfect for the genre; the film looks simple, yet beautiful. Sentimental viewers should have a full box of tissues handy. Moderate to unsentimental viewers will likely throw the box at the TV after the last gift is given, but an empty tissue box won't hurt the set.

****** The Christmas Hope (12/13/09) Norma Bailey ~ Madeleine Stowe, James Remar, Tori Barban, Ian Ziering

Another Great Sequel to The Christmas Shoes

[dorothybrr · 8/10 · 1 January 2011]

What was missing from the previous synopses and reviews, is that this is the third sequel to the Christmas Shoes.

The actor (Ian Ziering) who plays the doctor Nathan Andrews in this movie is different than in The Christmas Blessing (the second sequel). In the Christmas Blessing, doctor Nathan Andrews (Neil Patrick Harris) puts a gift into his pocket that drops out of the pocket of the teenager that is brought into emergency from an accident. This gift is forgotten until this third sequel. It is the gift that the mother gets at the end of this third sequel from the doctor when he remembers he still has the gift and realizes who the mother of the teenager is.

I feel it is great how the three movies are pieced together. I also feel that it is interesting and different how these movies came about after a song! The song came first, then the books, then the movies.

There should be more movies like this, rather than the shoot 'em up, bang up movies that seem to be prevalent these days. This is a movie with great values! I'd like to see more of these qualities in people in general. So, it is great to see these movies showing model behaviour of people dealing with very difficult realistic emotional challenges, where the end is not "they all live happily ever after", but they do reflect a great way to deal with these challenges.

Heartwarming and perhaps predictable

[imcyrano-961-839683 · 7/10 · 9 February 2012]

A TV Christmas movie that warms one inside, even if it doesn't have much new to say. Madeline Stowe displays much depth, with few histrionics. James Remar plays her somewhat estranged husband with an even reality. These two actors make this story work.

There are several side stories which come together at the end to provide transitions for the key characters and are smoothly woven into the plot.

The loss of loved ones is the challenge faced, and the ending, though poorly edited too quickly into credits, is worth the wait.

I, personally, love Christmas season movies. They are about love and family, and the continuity of humanity we all get a chance to re-find each year. This movie is worth seeing and I recommend it.

A mostly predictable but unexpected gem

[Jackbv123 · 9/10 · 4 December 2019]

Back before Countdown to Christmas had thrown countless movies at us recycling the same old (Christmas) cookie-cutter themes, Lifetime gave us this movie with a premise and themes that, at least in 2019 seems refreshing. We have to deal with some deep tragedies before we can get to the good stuff and we even have a scene where the mom of the cute little girl, Emily, gets hit by a car and dies. A social worker with her own tragic backstory is loath to put Emily in a state home and instead stretches the regs and takes the cutie home with her.

This isn't really a romance movie, at least not between adults. Emily certainly romances away the hearts of everyone she meets. The acting in general is good, but Toni Barban is superb for a child actor her age.

The movie actually follow several characters who cross paths, sometimes intentionally, and sometime obliviously. The perceptive viewer knows there is a reason for this and that somehow these things are going to tie together before we're done. Well, surprise, they do, and yes most of you will need tissues. I did.

Christmas story of loss, suffering, healing and love

[SimonJack · 7/10 · 26 December 2014]

The plot for "The Christmas Hope" is one that might make a story any time of the year. Indeed, most long-time movie buffs will have seen several films with similar plots. Still, we are drawn to another tale of love, tragedy and loss, healing and love renewed. The Christmas setting for this film gives the plot some special twists.

The cast are all quite good. Madeleine Stowe gives an excellent performance at the grief-stricken Patricia Addison. She is on-again, off-again with her misery at the loss of her son two years before. She handles with mastery her shifts from periods of bitterness and melancholy, to those of caring for a young girl who has just lost her mother. In her tender roles as a child welfare worker, she imparts just enough reticence about warming up to a child, that one can sense the hurt and sorrow she must still feel. At the same time, we wonder why she has not been able to get through such a long period of grieving. James Remar is equally good in his lesser role as Mark Addison, her husband.

This is a very good film that the whole family should enjoy. It may take some explaining for smaller children – and reassuring. As with other melodramas of holiday periods, Christmas Hope has some interesting twists and connections.

A Christmas Tearjerker for the Ages

[lavatch · 9/10 · 5 December 2019]

"The Christmas Hope" is a great favorite of Lifetime viewers...and for good reason. The excellent ensemble cast and the careful tying together of multiple plot strands makes for memorable holiday viewing. The only requirement for admission: a full box of Kleenex!

The centerpiece of the film is the home of a kind social worker named Patty Addison, who has drifted apart from her pilot husband Mark following the tragic death of their eighteen-year-old son Sean. The marriage is about to collapse until Patty brings home a little orphan named Emily, whose mother Traci was hit by a car while racing to her work as a waitress. Emily is destined to become a ward of the state without the intervention of a caring family.

While Mark has made the effort to move on following Sean's death, Patty remains fixed in the past and looking to dump blame almost anywhere, including over the broad shoulders of her loving husband. In a virtual split personality, she alternates between "Good Patty" the humanitarian social worker and "Bad Patty" the morose victim. But it is little Emily who will bring Patty out of her funk and allow her to return to the role of motherhood that seemed lost to her forever.

The secondary characters all share a bond with the film's main theme of significant loss in their lives. Patty's co-worker Roy lost his wife and is finding it difficult to think about remarrying. The thoughtful Dr. Andrews feels incomplete about never returning a present that was dropped in the hospital by Sean when he was being wheeled into the operating room. Slowly, Dr. Andrews is able to piece together the discrete moments of the past to recognize the identity of Patty and return the gift. Even the lost soul Justin has a change of heart after stealing Traci's camera and returns it in time for a recorded song written Traci to Emily.

It is the crusty old grandma character of Charlotte who articulates the film's message of coming to terms with "despair or joy" as a human choice and response to crisis. That is the lesson learned by Charlotte's feisty daughter Patty, and it is a thought to profoundly consider over the holidays for anyone reflecting on the vagaries of life and the need to come to terms with the seemingly irreparable feeling of loss.

Sweet and touching

[NateWatchesCoolMovies · 7/10 · 15 December 2015]

25 Days Of Christmas Cheer: Day 3:

I had to include one Hallmark esque, movie of the week style Christmas film, because they're a massive part of the sub genre, and also because The Christmas Hope is a pretty sweet little story. For all its snappiness, it actually has quite a neat little story of happenstance, compassion and redemption for its slight characters. When a young mother (Devon Weigel) dies in a car crash on her way to work, her young daughter Emily (Tori Barban) is left with no other family, and dumped with social services during the holidays. Social worker Patricia Addison (Madeleine Stowe, always awesome to see) feels for the girl, and brings her home for a few days during Christmas, temporarily. She meets Patricia's husband Mark (James Remar, toning down the tough guy persona for touching vulnerability) and learns of how they lost their son in a similar accident some years before. Eventually her presence strikes a chord with the couple, stirring up bittersweet memories for them and causing the trio to bond. Mark and Patricia are also slightly tense with each other, both still deeply hurt from the loss of their son, but Emily gradually is able to mend those wounds simply by the fact that they have opened up their home to her in her time of need. It's a low key little tale, classic Hallmark drama, but veterans Stowe and Remar, who both come from epic careers in high budget fare all across the board, elevate the script with their talents, and Ian Ziering shows up as a kindly doctor as well. Won't knock your socks off, but it's good, war,hearted entertainment for the Christmas season, with a nice little tearjerker of a cathartic moment near the end.

Magical for some

[lydiajp · 8/10 · 17 December 2019]

I cried a lot in this movie and that is why I think it doesn't have that high of a rating. I liked the writing and also the actors were all really good in my book. This movie gives back in a big way for people who understand spirit. It moved me in a deep and loving way. Not for all but I recommend it for people who need a boost or a reminder of hope, faith and love.

Uplifting.

[adrianplatt-797-287190 · 9/10 · 8 October 2013]

Aptly named 'Hope' in the title as it is built on a foundation of tragedy for two families and in an inspirational way healing and rediscovering life is available when those hurting face their realities. Perhaps a little on the sickly side when too many co-incidences occur later in the story but we benefit from having faith with expectation to see such events as these happen. Early into the plot when little Emily stays at the home of her social worker, you see the couple being driven apart as they fail to come to terms with the loss of their son, Sean. It seems obvious to the watcher that there is profound mutual need for them to keep Emily so your interest is driven by your longing to see that come to pass. Firstly Patricia's working protocol prevents her from getting anywhere near to bonding with the child. Her mother is an ally who tries to talk common sense into the situation. Patricia remains quite cold about the child until she goes out searching in the snow, fearing that she had lost Emily. Here you see the first real warmth, and this is added to when they arrive back indoors and Emily asks for the second time that she is read the story book 'I'll love you forever.' In my opinion, this is the best scene in the whole story, Patricia shifts from the fragile, false world where she can project the blame for her loss elsewhere and she gets in touch with her own feelings. There exists no better subject to pour out all the love of her heart than that of a young child who had recently lost her sole parent. So it was decided, she should adopt Emily. She presents this to her husband and suggests this to be a good reason for him to stay after all. That naturally was going to meet with popularity because it seemed that he wanted that from the beginning. We are teased further by the 'matter of fact' style she presents her case. Next doubts are cast as Emily's uncle expresses his keenness to take his rightful position as guardian. This story does deliver, it gives you precisely what you want to see happen, and more besides. There were other loose threads which were possibly too neatly tied, like the doctor, the young man who took the camera and the important role that Sean's memory had made an impact on them all. It is only a story, but good things like this can and do happen.