Like it or not Christmas is on the horizon and here at Tuesday Night is Film Night we like to get into the spirit nice and early. So to kick off our season of Christmas movies we have chosen;
If You Believe
Like it, loathe it or just put up with it, Christmas is just around the corner and here at Tuesday Night is Film Night we have a penchant for Christmas films and try to squeeze in as many as we can before the big man arrives with his heavily laden sack. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be many new good Christmas films around. We have a few, or we have seen a few already, but they are few and far between now, so we have to make do with the odd classic, the odd new one and the plethora of cheesy, American, schmaltzy films that abound the satellite channels at this time of year! These can be hit or miss, they tend to follow the same formula and are not ratings winners, not by a long way, but sometimes you find one that hits the mark, from a story perspective, even if the acting is more wooden than Santa's sleigh!
Anyway, we watched If You Believe which follows the life of Susan Stone, played by Ally Walker, (who has an impressive list of roles on IMDB, we've not heard of a lot of them though). Susan is a publishing house editor, who is struggling with her writers, struggling with her family, having been recently divorced and fallen out with her brother. So, life is not too rosy for the grouchy, Scrooge-like, curmudgeonly Susan, that is until she discovers a 7 year old girl in her apartment. It transpires that this girl is Susan's inner child, AKA Susan at 7 years old, full of joy and childlike innocent, intent on getting the adult Susan to mend her ways, change her outlook and reconnect with the people that surround her.
So far, so good (ish). Yes it is formulaic and cheesy, but if you can see past this thinly veiled layer of sentiment, Mom's apple pie and the good old American dream and just take the piece for what it is, it does possess an innocent charm, that may not melt the most cold of hearts, but thaw them just a little.
Susan gambles on an unknown writer, whose book is too long, too new and too dangerous to publish, but it is all she has to save her career. When she actually reads it, she loves it and goes off to spend three weeks with the writer to edit the book into a publishable form. Can you guess what happens next, to the single, unloved Susan? It wouldn't be a Christmas film without a modicum of romance now would it? Yes indeed! A little bit of romance to warm your cockles! Susan's writer is Thom Weller played by Tom Amandes, (no, we've never heard of him either) and fight it so she might, she starts to fall for our handsome Prince Charming, all the while being egged on by her constant companion; her 7 year old self.
We really should point out that Susan's 7 year old companion got quite annoying at the start of the film, with her very loud, constant berating of her older form. The child actor playing Susan junior is Hayden Panettiere and was clearly one of those precocious child acting brats that really should be seen and not heard, but she does (like it or not) give a great performance and was clearly made for this role and her involvement within the plot is key to the story.
Anyway, we digress. Back to the story, there is not much left to retell apart from the part and this is common to all the films of this ilk, where everything looks fine and dandy, but the rug gets pulled out from under the feet of one of the leading characters and we have that solemn moment when you never know if it is going to be a happy ending or not.
Rest assured, it would not be a good wholesome, heart warming Christmas movie if it didn't have a happy ending! If You Believe follows the formula to the letter and things turn out just fine.
If You Believe isn't a good film by a long stretch of the imagination. However, don't get us wrong; it is entertaining, it provides a great dollop of Christmas spirit, it ticks all the boxes but it would not be a hit at the box office. However, if you want to sit by the fire, with a glass of eggnog, staying warm from the winter chills and be entertained for 87 minutes then If You Believe can do that for you.
Don't expect a high rating though, as one of our number at TNiFN Towers fell asleep halfway through, which is always a good indicator as to a films' content!
See you next time for some more Christmas cheer.
TNiFN Rating 53%
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