Jeanskynebu the audience applauded

Lucybespro It is a performances centric movie

Salubfoto It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Michael Ledo This is a fantastic Christmas movie for young girls who still believe in Santa. I am going to give you a bit of a PLOT SPOILER review since I suspect parents do the buying. Jessie is sadden by her best friend Bobby moving away. She is moping and crying. The parents decide to bring in Aunt Millie to help. She arrives the day before Christmas and is dressed like the eccentric aunt in "Bewitched." To make Jessie feel better, she tells her about a story of a girl named Katie. Katie loved to skate and was taught by an Olympic gold medalist. She was his only pupil. When the mill closes down, Katie's family moves to the city where she is tormented by a gang of girls who also skate. Meanwhile at the North Pole a magical Reindeer is born who sounds a bit like Whoopie Goldberg. As a magical Reindeer, Blizzard seeks out Katie, whose sadness she feels in her heart.She helps Katie through this difficult time and gives her the courage to skate in front of her gang of bullies. Eventually through a series of events the rival girls become friends and Blizzard goes back to the North Pole. Jessie stops moping and goes outside to make a new friend. This is a great heartwarming story about friendship.I am not sure how this movie slipped under the radar. It is one that should be shown on TV every year along with Christmas Story. Perhaps the reason the movie is not more popular is that it does seem to target the young female audience. Even the "bad guy" who enforces the rules is likable. Santa is slightly deaf in a funny sort of way. He hears things slightly off.Highly recommended. And Aunt Millie...well let's just say her middle name begins with the letter "K."

meeawice-538-410002 This is not another Christmas romance. It is a story about one of the hard things we must all face in life. A little girl is grieving over the loss of her closest friend. Her parents bring in her eccentric aunt to help cheer her up. The aunt tells her a story about another little girl and another time and what she learned about the changing face of friendship. I wasn't in the mood for a Christmas movie but when I saw LeVar Burton's name in the credits, I decided to watch a bit of it. Once it began, I never considered changing the channel. While part of this movie is fantasy, the point rings very true and very real. Although there is magic involved, there is no magic healing solution for Jess's grief. She learns what we all must learn. There is a way to move on. The story is rich and rewarding and the costumes and scenery for the scenes from the past are particularly well done. I saw it for the first time yesterday and will be recommending it to anyone wanting something to watch alone or with their family over Christmas. While a houseful of rowdy little boys may find it rather tame, their parents most likely will love it. It is perfect for families with little girls.

amc1 I caught the last half of this movie on TV a couple of years ago and loved what I saw so much I went out and bought it---it's now one of our favorite family Christmas movies! Apart from the really sweet story, I loved the 'nostalgia' and atmospheric aspects---the outdoor skating rink with people in vintage knitted Mary Maxim sweaters, the lovely little girl skaters, the 'small town' wintery feel---all things that brought back such memories growing up in Ontario in the 50's and 60's. British actress Brenda Blethyn did a great job as Aunt Millie, although it took me a couple of minutes to get used to her North American accent! Using Quebec for the North Pole was great and really makes me want to go for a visit. The only thing, and a relatively small one, that I noticed was it was clearly obvious the young girl skating was not Zoe Warner (Katie). Her face could be seen clearly several times---I wonder why more effort wasn't put in to disguising her a bit better. Other than that, the movie is a delight and I highly recommend it! Think I might just go and grab a coffee and watch it again!

spitfire-19 This movie touched me emotionally like so few do. The story line in itself was just very wonderful. There are few that can not relate to loosing a friend. I thought it was one of the best Christmas movies I have seen in a long time. It might not be enough for those who need fast action movies but for those that like a good story it is the best. I recommend it highly. It is a great family film; children and adults should love it. I felt it was as good as Miracle on 34th Street and It's a Wonderful Life. This will be a Christmas classic.