Customer Reviews

Mr. Christmas

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This was a wonderful family movie that will touch your heart. We have watched it over and over, as have several people I know. The story is beautifully written, heartwarming and inspiring and the shots of Eureka Springs are lovely. It is truly a movie for all ages.

When times get hard due to uncontrollable circumstances this family celebrates life! "Mr. Christmas" is a timeless motion picture for all ages. This story opens both the mind and heart.

A wonderful and heartwarming story that pays great attention to the detail of the time period along with a real plot!! Great story for the whole family!! Entertaining and educational, it is one of the few I can watch with the kids over and over that is as fun for me as it is for them.

I was disappointed in the several reviewers here and at the IMDb site who criticized this cute little movie for being what it is. Talk about Grinches. The movie is only 56 minutes long, clearly a local production made in a small town in the Ozark foothills of Arkansas. To criticize it for lacking the production values of "Miracle on 34th Street" is like comparing your child's dance recital with the Kirov Ballet.

I loved the two little girls who reminded me of my own grand-daughters. They appear only about 4 and 5, an age where they have the attention span of butterflies. They are clearly more little girls than actresses. There is a wonderful blooper sequence that shows the director's difficulties in trying to keep them focused. Very funny.

The elder, Ireland Rose Maddox dearly wants a bike for Christmas. But it is Christmas 1941, just after the attack on Pearl Harbor. And dad's job at a local print shop is too low paying to allow buying a new bike costing over $24. This simple problem forms the plot.

My only real criticism is that the Production Notes on the DVD are unreadable. Too bad. I would have liked to know the background for the story and why and how it was made.

Nonetheless, this is a cute little movie, well worth the price.

This wonderful family movie won "Best Feature Film for Kids" at the Moondance Film Festival in Los Angeles in June, 2006. Another festival, Kids First! Film and Video Festival in Santa Fe, the largest festival of family films, has selected the movie for screening in up to 45 US and Canadian cities in the fourth quarter of 2006.

The first reviews of "Mr. Christmas" are extremely positive:

"A warm family film that parents and children will enjoy together." FamilyLife Today

"A family tale reminiscent of classic holiday films." Library Journal

"A sweet family drama with a surprising twist." Booklist

"This heartwarming film will be a holiday classic." School Library Journal

"A true gift." Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

I'm the filmmaker and invite you to enjoy our uplifting movie that is in the vein of "It's a Wonderful Life." See if you can guess the ending. No one has been able to do so!!!

If you have expectations of a major Christmas production you won't be pleased with this one but Mr. Christmas is worth seeing for what it is. It's a small simple story set in a simpler time (during WWII) about a family with two children and the financial difficulties they face in providing their children a decent Christmas. Uplifting ending.

I love christmas movies of all kinds and will watch ANYTHING christmas, but I couldn't even finish this I was so bored. I suppose one day I'll stick it in the dvd player again and finish it, but it looks like a home movie/high school play that someone taped at home. Plot isn't much either, I understand they didn't have money, but I kept waiting for something to happen, instead of seeing that fact reiterated over and over again. My favorite xmas movies are White Christmas and the old version of Miracle on 34th street, so I was really hoping this would be something similiar. I was wrong.

This is a warm and touching story that is appropriate for all family members. The costuming is very authentic for the era and the filming is realistic. The characters easy to relate to and identify with. I would recommend it for all ages. I gave five copies as Christmas gifts last year.

Mr. Christmas is an excellent Christmas family movie. It shares with the viewer a simpler time in our history that is both honest and heartwarming.

"Mr. Christmas" deserves kudos. A simple little story set in a not-so-simple time. Christmas 1941 in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. My mother-in-law was a child just 50 miles from Eureka Springs in the 1940's. I guarantee that this film is a visual delight. The costumes are incredibly authentic... The girls' coats and hats were perfect. The set design and props were authentic, right down to the metal jug used to hold cleaning solution for the printing press. The stores have that stripped down, functional no-fuss look true to the depression era. My mother-in-law has told me many stories about living in poverty in Arkansas, always told with a smile on her face and a wistful look in her eye. After seeing this production, I better understand why. I'm going to surprise her with a copy.