The Christmas Spirit (2013 TV Movie) User Reviews

Nicollette makes this Christmas movie special

[phd_travel · 7/10 · 22 February 2019]

Nicollette Sheridan has always been watchable and if the story is right for her she makes the TV movie special. Never mind if she's too beautiful for a small town.

She's plays a journalist. Bart Johnson plays a developer. They fall into a coma after an accident and their spirits can go around town observing people like her family and doing good deeds. It's more fun than the usual Hallmark Christmas movie.

Plots in Logic & Breaks Iys Own Rules

[Christmas-Reviewer · 6/10 · 3 December 2017]

Review Date 12/3/2017

I HAVE REVIEWED OVER 400 (C H R I S T M A S ) MOVIES AND SPECIALS.

SO PLEASE BEWARE OF SOME REVIEWERS THAT ONLY HAVE ONLY ONE REVIEW. WHEN ITS A POSITIVE THERE IS A GOOD CHANCE THEY WERE INVOLVED WITH THE PRODUCTION. NOW I HAVE NO AGENDA! I REVIEW MOVIES & SPECIALS AS A WAY TO KEEP TRACK OF WHAT I HAVE SEEN! I HAVE DISCOVERED MANY GEMS IN MY QUEST TO SEE AS MANY " C H R I S T M A S " MOVIES AS I CAN.

Charlotte (Nicollette Sheridan) and a greedy developer are left in coma after a car accident. Her spirit tries to change the man's mind and stop development in the town before the decision becomes final.

This film had an okay film story but it throws a little too much into the plot. I am glad that Nicollette Sheridan was able to find a role where she plays "Nice". She is a wonderful actress and never seems to catch break.

This film however has major flaws. Its "sets up the rules" on what "Spirits Can Do" however as soon as rules are established "It Breaks The Rules".

By the film breaking its own rules it doesn't allow the audience build a connection to the leads. Because the rules are not "there" the film becomes boring and "predictable".

Could of been great. I don't see myself watching this again in the near future!

Easy watching for a slightly different Hallmark Christmas Movie

[jk-692-236394 · 6/10 · 22 December 2014]

This movie would have been better as a Halloween movie. It is spirits and ghost type of plot. Nicollette Sheridan is wearing a bad wig which bugged me. I am not sure why they thought that was a good idea. The movie is not bad. The "spirits" go around the town doing things that are kinda fun and cute to help others. How a spirit bakes cookies and sends email, and tries on clothes, don't ask me. Nicollette Sheridan did a good job playing a softer type of character. I just watched about 15 Hallmark movies over 4 days and this one is in the middle of the pack. It has a different story than most of the rest of them. I really thought this one was easy to watch.

special

[Kirpianuscus · 19 July 2018]

A Hallmark Christmas story. seductive. and different by the ordinary recipe. because the accent is different. and the performances - obvious better than the script-. but one of beautiful surprises is the performance of Nicolle Sheridan and the work of Olympia Dukakis. a film about hope, joy and family, community spirit. and Christmas.

Ghosts .... but not really

[VetteRanger · 7/10 · 26 October 2022]

Is there a LOT of suspension of disbelief in this movie?

Since two people have a traffic accident at a malfunctioning "both ways green" traffic light that would NEVER have been left unrepaired, and since those two people both wind up in a coma, and since they both wind up wandering around as disembodied spirits, and since they can both touch things and move objects around ... the answer is a GREAT BIG YES.

The movie harkens back to the day when Hallmark would still hire some name actors to star in these movies, and not just from the mostly clique of actors who cycle through them year after year ... even though we like quite a few of that group. Nicolette Sheridan and Olympia Dukakis appear.

The male lead is an unscrupulous businessman, and he and Nicolette wander the town together, often performing good deeds as spirits.

Will the businessman turn a new leaf before they recover from their comas?

You might guess correctly. This isn't one of our very favorites, but it's entertaining enough to watch every few years.

Premise is okay... BUT

[DLThune · 5/10 · 27 November 2015]

I don't care what kind of financial trouble a small town is having. There is no way on earth that they would leave a broken traffic light blinking green in both directions. NO WAY. This is the single point that ruins this movie for me every time I see it.

If nothing else, the town could have purchased clear red tape from any auto supply store and make that light blink red instead of green. This just wouldn't happen "in real life". The author should have come up with a different idea to put both protagonists in the spirit world rather than an unbelievable, forever broken, blinking green traffic light.

Adorable Movie Marred by Bad Writing.

[littlemissbookwerm · 2/10 · 11 June 2014]

I live in Dayton, Ohio and grew up going to Lebanon with my grandma for lunch. She's got a slight obsession with the Golden Lamb, which has (to a lesser extent) been passed on to me. So, last December, when she requested that we record the movie on DVR to watch on Christmas Day, I readily agreed. It was terrible. You've got to understand, I'm a writer. I spend hours every day pouring over manuscripts, editing, hunting for problems with plot, character development, motive... I'm a writing geek. And movies like this make my brain explode. I spent the entire film biting back my thoughts about the illogical motives of the characters, the trite storyline... Sure, they got a decent cast. Not the BEST acting, but not the worst. The setting was beautiful. I know they shipped in a bunch of fake snow, so they could shoot the movie in September, and I can't deny that that was cool. But the plot. Oh dear, the plot... This movie is unique in that it contains one of the largest plot holes I've ever seen. All the action of the movie is based around the fact that this town is so poor, they can't afford to replace or repair a traffic light. But how much would it cost to put up stop signs? The entire incident could have been prevented if somebody somewhere just thought of that, instead. I have a feeling that this is one problem in the script that the writers just glazed over. You know, deal with it later? But they forgot. Also, without that mistake, there is no movie. All in all, it was... cute. And that's the absolute nicest thing I can say. Probably too nice. Go ahead. Watch it. But only if you don't suffer the affliction of having a writer's brain.

A matter of life and death

[TheLittleSongbird · 4/10 · 18 February 2020]

There was something somewhat intriguing about the premise, perhaps not an innovative premise but as far as modest-or-less-budget festive films go it is a concept that falls in the not so predictable category. And although Nicollette Sheridan is not an actress considered great by me, she is watchable in my view and a long way from being one of those impossible to watch actresses. 'The Christmas Spirit' was also seen as part of my recent Christmas films quest, which was interesting if variable.

Of which 'The Christmas Spirit' is one of those inoffensive but low middle of the pack efforts, that was a bit difficult to rate and review initially. The more thought about it though, the more problematic it became in my estimations. Not one of the best, with it not doing enough with the concept and in need of a lot more imagination and charm (not to mention credulity). Also not one of the worst, as there are far worse made, written and acted festive films out there and my intelligence at least wasn't insulted as such.

Not without its good things and moments. It didn't strike me as a cheap-looking film, the scenery is beautiful and the photography is not drab or garish. The music is neither too intrusive or too low-key, so there was presence and it was authentic to the holiday while not over-powering.

Sheridan carries 'The Christmas Spirit' more than amiably and Olympia Dukakis (the only other cast standout) is suitably enigmatic. A few charming and cute moments.

Unfortunately the rest of the cast are at best mediocre, some of which not really making much impact at all. Saddled with very vapid and corny dialogue and flimsily developed (and that's being generous often) standard Christmas-film stereotypes passing for characters. Really do wish that the film did more with the concept, which is executed far too ordinarily.

Much of the storytelling is bland, extremely predictable (do agree that one guesses the entire story without problem in the first 10 minutes) and the supernatural element is initially intriguing but very quickly becomes muddled and less cohesive. Everything with the traffic light requires some serious suspension of disbelief. Some of it gets too schmaltzy and anything more moralistic comes over as simplistic and heavy-handed.

In summary, pretty lacklustre and middle of the road. 4/10

Very Good Movie

[bergie1965 · 9/10 · 2 December 2013]

I am from Oregonia, which is right outside Lebanon, where the movie was filmed...This movie has a great message about The Christmas Spirit and was very well done. It was amazing to see a film shot where I live. The restaurant is actually named "The Country Kitchen" and has amazing food and service, it has hometown feel and really added to the movie knowing that it does in real life. I am not sure if it is going to be available on DVD, but I would love to buy this movie and I am sure others would as well. It shows the true meaning to Christmas and I feel is something that needs to be portrayed more in these days when so many want to remove the true meaning. Amazing message and job well done!!

Air-head movie that should be entirely invisible!

[adoptshelterpetstoday · 1/10 · 1 December 2014]

Beyond Awful! I did not care for this Christmas movie the first time I saw it. After seeing it again, I thought it was even worse! I profoundly noticed an underlying theme that surfaced, which is a mockery of Christianity!

"Charlotte," is ONLY a recently unemployed newspaper writer, but is glorified ad nauseum by the town's people, and whom they keep turning to and relying on for help regarding the potential buy-out situation....including the business owners.

Even in the Church scene, the Reverend stated to his congregation --to the effect-- that the greatest message of Christmas is Charlotte's life. (What about the message from the "Reason" for the Christmas Season?)

Olympia tells there was always something special about her ever since she was a child. Her contacts to the people were alluding to be miracles.

She was the deciding person whose "righteous" (or more accurately, self-righteous) influence would determine if her and Daniel would be returned to their bodies...the power over life or death.

Is she the town's "savior"??...........Also, she gains a power from the spirit world.

Olympia Dukakis constantly looked like she was in deep mourning at a wake (so depressed).

Blatant Puzzling Mistake: When Charlotte and Daniel were walking on the sidewalk, he pulled out a wad of money. She tells him to put it away before it scares someone seeing money floating by. Well, um, since they are invisible and the money is not, then the money is going to look like it's floating no matter where he has it....including being thrown in Santa's collection pot....and in the restaurant,"hiding" it to his side before placing it as a tip on the table. DUH!!!!!!!

Nicolette Sheridan is a stoic actress, extremely little to mostly no expression...in all of her movies. No expression from her eyes, mouth, entire face, or sincerity with words. So for a movie that was supposed to be focused on conveying a heart-tugging message, she did not convey the message. She just played the part. One would solely have to listen to the words and rely on the plot. Therefore, she was not right for the part.

Formulaic – you can foresee the entire story in the first 10 minutes

[caseybones · 3/10 · 8 July 2014]

The minute they showed the broken traffic light the anvils started raining down and the entire plot was revealed immediately. Charlotte, an award winning journalist, comes to visit her small town family at Christmas.

There is a requisite Big Bad Businessman tied to the Evil Empire destined to destroy the quaint little village that can't afford to fix a traffic light. First thought – put up a stop sign but then there wouldn't be this insipid pseudo-plot.

There is also the usual cast of relatives including bullied nephew and wayward niece, both saved by the almost-ghost aunt and the lonely, eccentric neighbor (anvil again) who can see things.

Another anvil hits when the Big Bad Businessman says that Christmas isn't his thing and then proceeds to tell the totally expected sad story of his boyhood which includes no Christmas tree.

Of course, both Spirits are able to touch and move things (and bake cookies) despite being almost-ghosts although their ability is mysteriously inconsistent.

Nicollette Sheridan is pretty much the worst actor I know but she keeps being hired for this Hallmark schlock. The acting was blah by pretty much everybody except Olympia Dukakis and it's a mystery why she got mixed up in this mess. If you can't figure out the ending within the first 10 minutes, you've never watched a Hallmark low budget production.

Interesting premise, but missing something

[herrcarter-92161 · 5/10 · 8 June 2023]

I really wanted to like this movie. I have always been a fan of movies with spirits and fantastic elements. The premise of this one sounded really interesting. This was a unique take on the spirit plot, with two spirits whose bodies are simultaneously in a coma being sort of stuck with each other, learning lessons together and also falling in love with each other. Somehow, though, in the execution of the story, something was missing.

One major thing that was wrong with the plot was that the two spirits had way too much control over physical matter, to the point where they might as well have had their bodies still. That's a big cheat, in my opinion. We've seen this inexplicable ability of spirits to manipulate physical objects since the movie Ghost, and it's only gotten worse over the years. I see it as a lazy screenwriter's crutch. In this movie, you actually have the character Gwen, who has the gift to see Charlotte and Daniel, our two disembodied spirits, but she never gets used. Why not have her perform all those tasks that our spirits seem to perform so easily, such as sending out emails, creating flyers and baking cookies? Where the whole thing got over-the-top unbelievable for me was when spirit Daniel started finding $100 bills and his business cards in his spirit suit and started leaving them with random people. Really?

All this might be forgivable, were it not for the heavy-handed way that Daniel transformed from evil, greedy developer to kind, caring person willing to forego all his company's plans and give in to Charlotte's no-development stance. The change was just too abrupt and unbelievable. Plus, they try to portray Daniel as somewhat of a good guy, even in his greedy developer state, but what his company is doing is outright fraud. They are attempting to buy up the town's downtown real estate at bargain basement prices while hiding their insider knowledge of plans to bring a new interstate past the town, which would make those properties' value skyrocket. This is truly evil. But, of course, the whole plot point is stupid. Plans to build a new freeway are made by the government, and are not some secret that is privy to a real estate developer. They are public knowledge.

Also, since both Charlotte and Daniel were supposed to learn something and undergo some change as a condition for returning to their bodies, what was Charlotte's change exactly? Daniel's was obvious, but she didn't change a bit. All that happened was that he came around totally to her way of thinking. Yet more lazy screenwriting on display.

One more nitpick. Nicolette Sheridan was 50 years old when this movie was made. Sorry, but that's way too old to be playing the female lead in a rom-com. Granted, she's a beautiful lady, but it's obvious that she's no spring chicken, and it feels weird pairing her with the significantly younger Bart Johnson.

There was a lot to like about this film. I loved the relationships between Charlotte and her niece, nephew and sister. The romance was handled pretty well too. They seemed to have pretty good interactions with each other and the dialog between them was good. I just wish they had executed better on the plot. The script just seemed way too sloppy and thrown together. Sad, really.

Brilliant

[jamiejoelewis · 10/10 · 7 July 2019]

Love Nicollette Great Acting love the storyline and overall great movie to watch in the christmas time

Lighthearted Trip to the Next Dimension

[theresaknudson · 9/10 · 25 July 2023]

Christmas movies often find it hard to recognize where the name or the holiday came from. This movie really develops its title and shows the spirit of Christmas in action without being preachy. To many, the trip out of their bodies by the two main characters will seem like an imaginative tale and the story did require some good imagination. There are also many people who have actually left their bodies and returned. Raymond Moody, MD has documented many instances of this happening and has written books about it, as have others. This story was well balanced and meaningful as well as entertaining. I wish I knew more about what inspired the story. It was well written and enjoyable.