I give this one star instead of zero, just because it was made in my hometown of Cleveland Ohio, and is a total indie, shot entirely off the Hollywood grid on digital video. I think a lot of film-making may eventually go this way, and I hope for a new era of movies that are regional and individual. Some day. This is not that day.
My family saw this on Christmas morning, a part of some local programming.It was immediately recognizable as an amateur production, with leaden camera work and actors delivering stilted dialog, and a confusing plot. For starters, who the hell is Maxwell? No one is named Maxwell.
(A visit to the website suggests the family "summer cottage" is called Maxwell's, for no real reason, but it isn't explained in the film at all.) So here is Major Problem #1 -- though Lakeside Ohio is a lovely upscale resort town on the banks of Lake Erie, and very scenic, it is terribly hard to work up much sympathy for people this ostentatious and wealthy. They also seem to have a lavish home in the upscale village of Chagrin Falls. The whole thing is dripping in Ralph Lauren, which is odd, because basically Cleveland is a working class town. The whole whitebread vibe is artificial and feels "off".
Then Major Problem #2 -- It also has the uncomfortable suggestion that an angel would only be bothered to save a rich white blonde woman suffering from cancer, but all the people of color dying...all the poor or middle class people without summer cottages on the Lake...all the dumbasses in the hospital actually getting medical treatment...people dying in hospices...none of them are as deserving of a Christmas miracle and literal RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD as this pretty blonde lady. ???? I don't get it.
I really, really hope that the Lauffer family is not seriously suggesting that people discontinue their chemo and radiation, and just give up and expect that God will send an angelic old guy to "save them". I don't find this message uplifting; in fact I find it tragic and misguided. (Speaking of this, why does the actress sometimes wear a bandanna, implying her hair has fallen out, and other times appear with a full head of lush hair?) Major Problem #3 -- as pointed out by another poster, is it the intent of the filmmakers to suggest that you get cancer as punishment for having an abortion? If so, that is sick and it is also medically incorrect. Furthermore, the point is muddled. The heroine has an abortion (egged on by her husband, who is not the father of the baby), and later has two other kids, and apparently has lived at least 12 happy very prosperous years before getting cancer. So she's punished, but then she gets a miracle by being literally brought back from the dead. Why? She does nothing to repent for the abortion, assuming you believe that is an "evil act" (and not, say, a perfectly legal medical procedure).
The film's website says on the first page "based on a true story". Seriously guys? Your mother DIED OF CANCER, her cold lifeless body in the bed next to your dad on Christmas MORNING, and then an angelic old man resurrected her? Because I'm having some problems with that one.
In short, this is a very, very amateurish production with a script that says "first year film student" and "never been edited" all over it. The actors are mostly local, and there is a reason they have never left Cleveland. I enjoyed the local shooting locations, but wish they had been identified properly, instead of the implication that the movie is set in some nameless New England town. Why not "Christmas at Lakeside"? That's where it was shot. Not some place called Maxwell's.
It would have been nice to see something about the struggles and heartaches and true bravery of ordinary people, rather than rich people with multiple lavish homes. I'm not saying rich people don't suffer or get ill -- of course they do -- but they have resources and privileges that the rest of us can only dream about. I have seen family members suffer and die from cancer, and not once did we get to escape to our "country villa on the lake". Neither did angels intervene. This is a corny cheat that simply uses cancer (and unfortunately abortion) to generate fake tears and schmaltz.
I don't post this revue to discourage any regional filmmakers. But for heaven's sake, take advantage of your independence from the movie "biz" to do things that are brave and original. We already have all the Christmas cornball treacle we could ever need.
My family saw this on Christmas morning, a part of some local programming.It was immediately recognizable as an amateur production, with leaden camera work and actors delivering stilted dialog, and a confusing plot. For starters, who the hell is Maxwell? No one is named Maxwell.
(A visit to the website suggests the family "summer cottage" is called Maxwell's, for no real reason, but it isn't explained in the film at all.) So here is Major Problem #1 -- though Lakeside Ohio is a lovely upscale resort town on the banks of Lake Erie, and very scenic, it is terribly hard to work up much sympathy for people this ostentatious and wealthy. They also seem to have a lavish home in the upscale village of Chagrin Falls. The whole thing is dripping in Ralph Lauren, which is odd, because basically Cleveland is a working class town. The whole whitebread vibe is artificial and feels "off".
Then Major Problem #2 -- It also has the uncomfortable suggestion that an angel would only be bothered to save a rich white blonde woman suffering from cancer, but all the people of color dying...all the poor or middle class people without summer cottages on the Lake...all the dumbasses in the hospital actually getting medical treatment...people dying in hospices...none of them are as deserving of a Christmas miracle and literal RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD as this pretty blonde lady. ???? I don't get it.
I really, really hope that the Lauffer family is not seriously suggesting that people discontinue their chemo and radiation, and just give up and expect that God will send an angelic old guy to "save them". I don't find this message uplifting; in fact I find it tragic and misguided. (Speaking of this, why does the actress sometimes wear a bandanna, implying her hair has fallen out, and other times appear with a full head of lush hair?) Major Problem #3 -- as pointed out by another poster, is it the intent of the filmmakers to suggest that you get cancer as punishment for having an abortion? If so, that is sick and it is also medically incorrect. Furthermore, the point is muddled. The heroine has an abortion (egged on by her husband, who is not the father of the baby), and later has two other kids, and apparently has lived at least 12 happy very prosperous years before getting cancer. So she's punished, but then she gets a miracle by being literally brought back from the dead. Why? She does nothing to repent for the abortion, assuming you believe that is an "evil act" (and not, say, a perfectly legal medical procedure).
The film's website says on the first page "based on a true story". Seriously guys? Your mother DIED OF CANCER, her cold lifeless body in the bed next to your dad on Christmas MORNING, and then an angelic old man resurrected her? Because I'm having some problems with that one.
In short, this is a very, very amateurish production with a script that says "first year film student" and "never been edited" all over it. The actors are mostly local, and there is a reason they have never left Cleveland. I enjoyed the local shooting locations, but wish they had been identified properly, instead of the implication that the movie is set in some nameless New England town. Why not "Christmas at Lakeside"? That's where it was shot. Not some place called Maxwell's.
It would have been nice to see something about the struggles and heartaches and true bravery of ordinary people, rather than rich people with multiple lavish homes. I'm not saying rich people don't suffer or get ill -- of course they do -- but they have resources and privileges that the rest of us can only dream about. I have seen family members suffer and die from cancer, and not once did we get to escape to our "country villa on the lake". Neither did angels intervene. This is a corny cheat that simply uses cancer (and unfortunately abortion) to generate fake tears and schmaltz.
I don't post this revue to discourage any regional filmmakers. But for heaven's sake, take advantage of your independence from the movie "biz" to do things that are brave and original. We already have all the Christmas cornball treacle we could ever need.
