While "Stealing Christmas" might easily have been just another cliched warm and fuzzy holiday tale, exceptional performances by Lea Thompson and Tony Danza raise the dramatic level and clear the way for a revelation of the underlying moral conflict. Betrayal of trust is the one transgression that has no redeeming value; Lea Thompson is the angel who turns Tony Danza's cynical heart away from the brink of betrayal, and touches his heart in a way that makes it impossible to betray the trust that has been placed in him by the simple hearted town folk--and the trust of Lea herself.
In an era of movies that myopically portray love exclusively in the form of passionate, nude bedroom scenes, "Stealing Christmas" provides a refreshing view of love between two people primarily as mutual respect, admiration, and most of all, acceptance of each others' faults.
In an era of movies that myopically portray love exclusively in the form of passionate, nude bedroom scenes, "Stealing Christmas" provides a refreshing view of love between two people primarily as mutual respect, admiration, and most of all, acceptance of each others' faults.