Despite a name cast that any film producer, and audience, would kill for, this scant musical is a disaster from start to finish. A little orphaned girl named Emily (Noelle E Parker) is visited by kindly Rose (Angela Lansbury) while recovering in a hospital. Rose reads Emily a fairy tale featuring Annabelle (Alivia Clark) and her own adventures under the watchful eye of her guardian angel (Dick Van Dyke) during the American Industrial Revolution.
Read through this supporting cast list: Ioan Gruffudd, Roma Downey, Jane Seymour, Charles Shaughnessy, Robert Picardo, John de Lancie, with narration by Kate Winslet and Robert Redford. Wow, right? Wrong. Composer Tim Janis' direction is nothing short of abominable. His screenplay lifts from "Annie" and "Oliver!," and doesn't offer anything new. The film is cheap, with too many computer generated scenes. The framing of many scenes reminded me of Ed Wood's films, complete with jump cuts and blurred picture. This is a musical without one memorable song, as smiling extras look directly into the camera. Redford and Winslet's "narration" is literally a handful of words, with Winslet's coming over an odd opening credits sequence that had me thinking I was rewatching the trailer. Don't be fooled by the other reviews that point out that the film is a charitable effort to combat autism. That's no excuse, I doubt my own autistic family member would make it five minutes into this. Van Dyke and Lansbury try, but as they were getting on in years, Janis' camerawork lets both of them down. This mess has been released a few times, sports a couple of subtitles- "A New Musical Film," "A Christmas Tale," and I've seen three different running times for the film; I caught the 88 minute version. Watching this train wreck unfold, I wasn't fascinated but bored. There is no emotion and no heart. This is a shoddy, amateurish production that might appeal to your grandmother who finds "Green Acres" scandalous. A wasted opportunity, especially considering that cast.
Read through this supporting cast list: Ioan Gruffudd, Roma Downey, Jane Seymour, Charles Shaughnessy, Robert Picardo, John de Lancie, with narration by Kate Winslet and Robert Redford. Wow, right? Wrong. Composer Tim Janis' direction is nothing short of abominable. His screenplay lifts from "Annie" and "Oliver!," and doesn't offer anything new. The film is cheap, with too many computer generated scenes. The framing of many scenes reminded me of Ed Wood's films, complete with jump cuts and blurred picture. This is a musical without one memorable song, as smiling extras look directly into the camera. Redford and Winslet's "narration" is literally a handful of words, with Winslet's coming over an odd opening credits sequence that had me thinking I was rewatching the trailer. Don't be fooled by the other reviews that point out that the film is a charitable effort to combat autism. That's no excuse, I doubt my own autistic family member would make it five minutes into this. Van Dyke and Lansbury try, but as they were getting on in years, Janis' camerawork lets both of them down. This mess has been released a few times, sports a couple of subtitles- "A New Musical Film," "A Christmas Tale," and I've seen three different running times for the film; I caught the 88 minute version. Watching this train wreck unfold, I wasn't fascinated but bored. There is no emotion and no heart. This is a shoddy, amateurish production that might appeal to your grandmother who finds "Green Acres" scandalous. A wasted opportunity, especially considering that cast.