The Gift of Love: A Christmas Story

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1983

1h 36m

Holiday

Drama

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Fewer than 50 Ratings

Janet Broderick (Lee Remick) is crushed by a double blow just before Christmas when she suddenly loses her mother, Amanda (Angela Lansbury), and is forced to bankrupt her small business. Stricken with grief, Janet takes to her bed, only to awaken in a mysterious dream world where she finds herself and her children magically reunited with her deceased parents. The group travels back in time to the small Connecticut town where Janet grew up, in the hope of spending one last Christmas together.

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Jeff M

Watching this earnestly reverential and lovingly crafted TV movie is a bit like staring at a snow globe - you shake it a few times and enjoy its beauty, but after a while, it gets a bit boring and repetitive, and you're ready to move on to something else. The filmmakers here are obviously trying to hit into an IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE/A CHRISTMAS CAROL groove, but a lack of emotional resonance, jarring time jumps and subplots that feel irrelevant keep us at a distance. The cast is full of wonderful actors who come across a bit like was museum figures come to life. Holliday is a welcome exception - her complicated spinster aunt is the only character that feels even halfway developed, and she has a couple scenes that truly tug at the heart strings. I'm all for movies taking their time and luxuriating in their time and place, but there is a fine line between slow and comatose.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/18/24

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Delbert Mann

Director

Lee Remick

Janet Broderick

Angela Lansbury

Amanda Fenwick

Polly Holliday

Aunt Minerva

Joe Warren

Spencer

Mart Hulswit

Neil

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Synopsis

Director: Delbert Mann
Screenwriter: Earl Hamner Jr.
Genre: Holiday, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): May 8, 2017
Runtime: 1h 36m

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The Gift of Love: A Christmas Story

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