One Magic Christmas

For days now I have been trying to explain to my BF the absolute terribleness of a certain Christmas movie that I faithfully watched year after year as a child.  But for the life of me, I haven't been able to remember the name of it!

Well, thanks to a co-worker, I have been reminded, and the memories of this movie have come flooding back.  Apparently, 'One Magic Christmas' was on TV last night and ,sadly, ('sadly' with dry, sarcastic undertones), I missed it.

First of all, you need to understand that this movie was filmed in Owen Sound and Meaford.  Close to home; practically in my backyard - so it was kinda a big deal.  The year was 1985.  As a five year old child, I have vague memories of being dragged out in the middle of the night - (understand that, to a child, any time after dark is 'the middle of the night', so it could have been 6pm for all I knew) - not to the movie theatre, but to the local high school for the screening of this hometown-proud movie.

I remember a lot of people, a dark auditorium, and a whole lot of excitement for a movie that I neither liked nor understood.  I'm pretty sure everyone there was just waiting for the end scene, taken around the Christmas tree down at City Hall, in hopes of catching a glimpse of themselves on the big screen.  Oh that's right!  It seems that the whole town showed up to be extras in this movie!  Two out of three of my co-workers who lived in Owen Sound in 1985 are there in the crowd.

For the longest time in our household, it was a Christmas duty to watch it when it came on TV.  Can't say that anyone actually enjoyed it; it's sort of like watching a train wreck in slow motion - you know it's terrible, but you just can't look away.  It's been a few years now since I've watched it, but it goes something like this:

Mom & Dad, who could pass for emotional-less robot actors, spend their time fighting about money, and job loss, and the crappy house they're about to lose.  Meanwhile, the little boy is losing his faith in Santa and the whole Christmas Season, while the little girl is holding onto her idealistic notion of Santa saving the day with everything she's got.  Santa is really her only hope for a happy Christmas.

There's a scene out on the street at night with the little girl and a Christmas Angel named Gideon.   For the longest time, I thought Gideon was played by Michael Landon strung out on crack - apparently, this is false.  He is, however, the scariest, grizzled and most dirty angel I've ever seen.  Had it been me meeting this scary dude on the street at night, he would have sent me panicked and screaming back to my home.

Then the movie gets really good...  Mom's at work at the local grocery store making less than minimum wage, Dad & kids go to town to do a few errands with the couple dollars they have.  Dad leaves kids in the car while he goes to the bank.  He gets shot and killed in the bank by bank robbers who run outside, steal the car, and drive it into the harbour - killing the children.  Merry friggin' Christmas.

Luckily, the children are saved by Gideon, but still have to hear the news from crazy robot mom that their dad is dead and Christmas is canceled.

This obviously leads to a trip to the north pole for the little girl, through a magical snow globe, who, with Santa's help, saves the day, reminds robot mom of the true meaning of the Christmas spirit, and somehow dad comes back to life and they all live happily ever after.  The end.


This movie is sooooooo terrible, that you can't help but watch it.  It's sort of like watching a school Christmas production: you don't really want to be there, but you are because you feel obligated to encourage the children.

So by all means, watch it!  It'll be the worst 88 minutes of your Christmas season! 


Fun Fact: Mary Steenburgen, who plays the robotic mom in this film, also plays the (slightly less robotic) mom in the Christmas movie 'Elf' with Will Ferrell.  She is also married to Ted Danson, which might explain why she still gets movie rolls.