THE CHRISTMAS BLESSING

REVIEWED BY RISSI C.

Our rating: 5 out of 5

Rated:

For those of you unfamiliar with anything related to this film, I want to tell you my introduction to it and its prequel. Christmas Blessing’s predecessor, The Christmas Shoes, is a touching, emotional tale that my family and I sat down to watch when it premiered on TV about five years ago. I had no idea that this was a best-selling book, which also inspired the amazing song The Christmas Shoes by NewSong, but once I realized it the song quickly became a favorite song to enjoy while decorating my tree.

The Christmas Blessing starts about twenty or so years later and tells the story of the little boy in the first movie now all grown up and rising in the medical field. Nathan Andrews (Neil Patrick Harris) is now a successful doctor at an area hospital, but still can’t erase the memory of his beloved mother’s death from a heart aliment. His father Jack (Hugh Thompson) is still living in the house she died in and running a small mechanical shop in their small town. After losing a young man on the operating table, Nathan can’t handle the pressure and strain anymore, so he heads home for Christmas and as he does every year, dredges up the past, much to his father’s dismay. Jack is thinking of making some changes in his own life, and because of that, father and son clash.

During his stay. Nathan meets Meghan (Rebecca Gayheart) a kind-hearted schoolteacher who is a native of Texas and after one too many bad relationships has ended up on the East Coast. While Meghan tries to help Nathan overcome his fears, he finds himself drawn to her and one of her energetic young students Charlie (Angus T. Jones). While helping Meghan with her dream, Nathan also meets lawyer Robert Layton (Rob Lowe). As these four lives become intertwined, Nathan may have to face his greatest fear yet when faced with losing loved ones.

Let me start my thoughts about this film by saying, both of these movies (Christmas Shoes and Christmas Blessing) are very sad. But both have a nice message and by the end makes you feel that the characters are going to be okay. This movie is based on a Christian novel, but isn’t without its’ downfalls, although most are probably in the production and casting rather than its massage. I’m not a fan of Harris, despite him being a fairly familiar face on TV productions. For some reason I can’t seem to like him no matter how many times I’ll see him around. Rebecca Gayheart was a new face and name and did good enough, probably no better than Harris. The two performances that I enjoyed best came from Thompson and Angus T. Jones; both did a great job with their character. It was also nice to see them bring Thompson back since he also played Jack in the previous film. While Christmas Shoes has been on DVD for a couple of years, this is the first year for the sequel and I found it better in my second viewing. The characters have rough times but there is a conversation regarding God and why he wants someone with him. The response was particularly touching.

Both Nathan and Meghan give an initial illusion of not being who they really are. While Meghan’s is more in fun and she immediately corrects Nathan on their next meeting, Nathan lets his go until she learns from someone else who he really is. Which hurts Meghan since she hasn’t gotten the truth out of former boyfriends. Nathan doesn’t “technically” lie to Meghan but he doesn’t tell her the truth about his profession either. Content is mostly more of the possibly “disturbing” emotional state than anything else. A prominent character dies of a health condition; another character comes close to dying. We open with a patient on a stretcher and see Nathan in the operating room (we briefly glimpse blood). An occasional profanity is heard, but nothing worse than he**. Jack tells Nathan he would sometimes go crazy and that he put his fist through the wall once. There are two scenes in a bar; Jack once alludes to drinking after his wife’s death. Meghan dresses inappropriately on occasion; a father has lied to his son about his mother.

The Christmas Blessing is a tale of letting go and learning to love without fear. Nathan ultimately has apprehension of loving without constrain. But through his father who tells him “I would go through everything…the pain and the loss all over again…to hold your mother one more minute." Meghan Nathan learns that nothing is guaranteed in this life. We must cherish each day, and be thankful for each gift we are given.

The Song:

Not many songs make me cry, but “The Christmas Shoes” does. The words are beautiful, innocent and heart rendering all at once as the singer tells us the story of one desperate little boy’s wish for his mother, we all need to pause in our daily lives and really think on this powerful message.

 “Could you hurry, sir, Daddy said there’s not much time. You see she’s been sick for quite a while and I know these shoes would make her smile and I want her to look beautiful, if mama meets Jesus tonight… I knew I’d caught a glimpse of heaven’s love as he thanked me and ran out. I knew that God had sent that little boy to remind me what Christmas is all about.”