NOEL is a very unusual and underrated movie, a bit of a experiment all of his own. Because of this and the depressing nature of the movie is a movie that not all viewers would like. And some critics even hated it at the time. So what I liked of the movie? I'll explain.
As an episodic movie, it features various stories intervowen throughout the story and until the end no one can guess why all the stories are connected. At times the editing looks a bit rushed, at times slow.
The movie is about some New Yorkers that on Christmas Eve they have some hope not only for the holiday season but also for their individual lives. So what are the stories? Briefly: they involve a lonely publisher (Susan Sarandon) that tries to reassure his old mother suffering from Alzheimer's even letting a former priest (Robin Williams in an uncredited cameo) staying a night at her home, a young cop (Paul Walker) that is very jealous towards his girlfriend (Penelope Cruz) but is also pestered by a much older man (Alan Arkin, here very unlikeable), and a poor man named Jules (Marcus Thomas) that desperately wants to spend the Christmas in the hospital in the hope of a party like (according to him) they did when he was younger.
While watching, I found NOEL very interesting despite his depressing nature, and it kept my attention until the very end. Mainly because the movie features various great actors and they all give nice performances here. I loved NOEL? Not exactly, but I admired it for being a very different and inusual Christmas movie (unlike the ones always overplayed on TV like THE GRINCH, ELF, THE SANTA CLAUS). And I am proud of having seen it not only for the Robin Williams uncredited cameo.
As an episodic movie, it features various stories intervowen throughout the story and until the end no one can guess why all the stories are connected. At times the editing looks a bit rushed, at times slow.
The movie is about some New Yorkers that on Christmas Eve they have some hope not only for the holiday season but also for their individual lives. So what are the stories? Briefly: they involve a lonely publisher (Susan Sarandon) that tries to reassure his old mother suffering from Alzheimer's even letting a former priest (Robin Williams in an uncredited cameo) staying a night at her home, a young cop (Paul Walker) that is very jealous towards his girlfriend (Penelope Cruz) but is also pestered by a much older man (Alan Arkin, here very unlikeable), and a poor man named Jules (Marcus Thomas) that desperately wants to spend the Christmas in the hospital in the hope of a party like (according to him) they did when he was younger.
While watching, I found NOEL very interesting despite his depressing nature, and it kept my attention until the very end. Mainly because the movie features various great actors and they all give nice performances here. I loved NOEL? Not exactly, but I admired it for being a very different and inusual Christmas movie (unlike the ones always overplayed on TV like THE GRINCH, ELF, THE SANTA CLAUS). And I am proud of having seen it not only for the Robin Williams uncredited cameo.