Background: The Christmas Hope is the third movie in the series based on the Newsong song “The Christmas Shoes.” I got this in a 3-pack with The Christmas Shoes (see review here) and The Christmas Blessing (see review here).
Plot: When a single mom dies in an accident, she leaves behind a young daughter. Social Services steps in, and when no temporary foster home can be found, Patricia (Stowe), one of the social workers, decides to take the girl through Christmas. Patricia and her husband are on the verge of divorce as they still are reeling from their son’s death two years before, but helping this young girl through her mother’s death opens them both up to the possibility of loving again.
Reactions: You know how on soaps they recast characters all the time? Well, the character of adult Nathan Andrews (the boy who buys the Christmas shoes for his mother in the first movie) has been played by three different actors in three different movies. In this film, they even went so far as to reshoot a scene from the second movie that was used in a flashback. It reminded me of how General Hospital reshot some of the pivotal Lucky & Liz moments after they decided Lucky really wasn’t dead and Jacob Young replaced Jonathan Jackson on the show. (Don’t judge me, okay? Yes, I was a GH fanatic back in the day.) Anyway, I couldn’t get past the fact that Neil Patrick Harris (Nathan in The Christmas Blessing) and Ian Ziering (Nathan in The Christmas Hope) are nothing alike (kind of like Jacob & Jonathan on GH, actually). I think the film would have been better (and less distracting) had they not tried to carry through Nathan’s story line—or if they’d coughed up the money to get NPH back.
The Christmas Hope is definitely the weakest of the three movies—in acting, cinematography, and plot. I honestly don’t know if I’ll ever watch it again. Still it’s part of the 3-pack, so …
Verdict: Keep
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