Customer Reviews

A Different Kind of Christmas

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Christmas really can be about hurt feelings and sacrifices, especially if your dad is Santa all year long. For Elizabeth, Santa was not a happy thing, as she longed for a normal dad instead of a Christmas icon. When her dad moves to her town to be near his only grandson, Liz is forced to deal with long ago hurt feelings, and to accept that Santa Claus is also a loving father and grandfather.

A Different Kind of Christmas has a strong cast - most notably Shelly Long and Barry Bostwick. The story centers on City Attorney Elizabeth Gates (Long) and her father, a man who spent most of his life pretending to be Santa Claus. He played the part convincingly year round, bringing happiness to countless people, except his own family. His wife and daughter were relegated to the background, their needs often neglected. After her mother dies when she's only 15, Long's character is filled with resentment and when it comes to her father her heart is hardened. She has simply been hurt too much.

Now a successful adult with a young son, her father re-enters her life in an untimely manner causing anger and humiliation. It appears that "Santa", after ruining her childhood, is going to destroy the life she's worked so hard to build. All of the old pain returns as if no time has passed. She tries to shelter her son from the hurt and continual disappointments her father inflicted by keeping his identity as the child's grandfather a secret. Despite her efforts the secret is about to be revealed in a very public way by a reporter played by Barry Bostwick.

The story is about a harden daughter's forgiveness of old wounds, a father's attempt to make amends and revive his relationship with his child and form a brand new relationship with his grandchild. I am a bit puzzled by the negative reviews because there are plenty of Christmas movies that are dramas about bitter people and their redemption - in fact it is the basic theme found in the most beloved of all stories - A Christmas Carol (Scrooge) which certainly isn't light hearted fare. Perhaps since Shelly Long is frequently associated with comedies, this role was unexpected. She is definitely not reprising her constantly over-analyzing Diane Chambers character from Cheers TV series. With that character nothing was left unsaid. In this role Long is playing a woman emotionally stifled now forced to confront and work through issues from her childhood. I did not find the momentum to be slow - it moved right along and kept my attention. This movie is suitable for the entire family. And, I won't be donating my copy of the film to the library or charity. I'll be keeping mine.

I just loved this movie, and knowing that it is a true story makes me love it even more, just to think that there are people like that still in the world, that care so much makes me feel safe and good.

When you're the city attorney you don't need the kinds of problems that her father was giving her. After her mother died, her father began doing his "Santa Schick," as she called it, much more intensely... which meant that he turned his home into a kind of year-round Santa Claus castle where children of all ages could come to see the wonderful presents and no child ever left without a gift. But what's wrong with this kind of philanthropic generosity was that it totally embarrassed her when, as city attorney, it fell to her to make him stop his 'commercial' enterprise in an area zoned for private homes. But there's more to it than that and the outcome is not quite what you'd expect. NOT AVAILABLE ON DVD IN REGION 1.

I see that some people liked this movie and I can see their viewpoint; unfortunately, we found the movie slow moving and boring. Time seemed to stand still. We will donate our dvd of this movie and maybe somebody else will enjoy it.

The santa looked like a real santa. The language was not objectionable. We have enjoyed Shelly Long in other movies, but, in this movie we could not get into her character Liz (the main character).

The character Liz did not have enough debth. She was emotionally wounded and stood firm in unforgiveness with displays of consistent selfishness and harshness. There was too much time devoted to a character that did not have enough debth.

I guess this movie would be a drama (without the debth). There seemed to be zero attempts at humor in any way. Dramas will usually have some humor because there is humor in everyday life.

If you want a movie about a harsh person who changes, then I would suggest Scrouged with Bill Murray (comedy) or Ebbie with Susan Lucci (TV movie). If you want a movie centering around Santa Claus consider Santa Clause with Tim Allen.

I purchased the wrong DVD. But if was my fault. I didn't really want this DVD and I didn't like it too much.

Depressing, slow moving, lifeless movie. Shelly Long's character in this movie is just like her character (Diane Chambers) from the TV show Cheers-self-centered, arrogant, selfish & career driven. Since I will not ever want to watch this movie again, my copy will be donated to the local library tomorrow, if they accept it. Otherwise, in the trash it will go.