I decided to watch this movie on Christmas day afternoon with my family. I knew almost nothing about it but the title caught my eye... a movie about Christmas to watch on Christmas. Makes sense.
The script mixes the dreams and problems of three people: a middle-aged lady who dreams of her mother, Alzheimer's in a vegetative state, getting better enough to talk to her; a girl who dreams of solving her problems with her jealous fiance and, finally, this same fiance, who lives being pestered by a man who believes that he's the reincarnation of his deceased wife, of whom he didn't had time to apologize for a fight. Dreams, the yearnings of several people winding down on Christmas Eve... we've seen things like this in several movies before and this one doesn't bring anything new. What's interesting is to see so many familiar faces together in a movie that's not well known.
Penelope Cruz and Paul Walker gave life to the protagonists. She, of course, is a hot-tempered Latina and he's a man in love but jealous. Both are beautiful, played very well, and their chemistry worked in the romantic scenes. Susan Sarandon made a more complex character, full of deep psychological shadows and obvious difficulty in relating to people. In a way, she made this film deeper and emotive, prevented it from being dominated by the main couple. Alan Arkin and Robbin Williams made relatively brief appearances, but important for the script's unfolding. Of course, Williams was impeccable and Arkin made a lot of pain in his character, making us have some compassion for him.
Looking further, I understand the reason this movie never took off. If we exclude the star-cast and their good performance, we have virtually nothing here. It's just one of those movies we've watched and forget, so it will surely fall by the wayside... well, it was released in 2004, we're now starting 2018... looking back, does anyone remember this movie? I have my doubts. Still, if you're tired of watching always the same movies at Christmas ("Home Alone", "Sound of Music" or those eternal biblical epics released fifty years ago) and you're simply looking to surprise your family with something that none of them still saw, this movie might be a good bet for the Christmas holiday.
The script mixes the dreams and problems of three people: a middle-aged lady who dreams of her mother, Alzheimer's in a vegetative state, getting better enough to talk to her; a girl who dreams of solving her problems with her jealous fiance and, finally, this same fiance, who lives being pestered by a man who believes that he's the reincarnation of his deceased wife, of whom he didn't had time to apologize for a fight. Dreams, the yearnings of several people winding down on Christmas Eve... we've seen things like this in several movies before and this one doesn't bring anything new. What's interesting is to see so many familiar faces together in a movie that's not well known.
Penelope Cruz and Paul Walker gave life to the protagonists. She, of course, is a hot-tempered Latina and he's a man in love but jealous. Both are beautiful, played very well, and their chemistry worked in the romantic scenes. Susan Sarandon made a more complex character, full of deep psychological shadows and obvious difficulty in relating to people. In a way, she made this film deeper and emotive, prevented it from being dominated by the main couple. Alan Arkin and Robbin Williams made relatively brief appearances, but important for the script's unfolding. Of course, Williams was impeccable and Arkin made a lot of pain in his character, making us have some compassion for him.
Looking further, I understand the reason this movie never took off. If we exclude the star-cast and their good performance, we have virtually nothing here. It's just one of those movies we've watched and forget, so it will surely fall by the wayside... well, it was released in 2004, we're now starting 2018... looking back, does anyone remember this movie? I have my doubts. Still, if you're tired of watching always the same movies at Christmas ("Home Alone", "Sound of Music" or those eternal biblical epics released fifty years ago) and you're simply looking to surprise your family with something that none of them still saw, this movie might be a good bet for the Christmas holiday.