A Christmas Snow (2009) Poster

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7/10
A sweet but somber holiday film; don't watch it if you are in a blue mood
inkblot119 May 2014
Kathleen (Catherine Mary Stewart) is a restaurant owner in a fairly large Western city. Christmas Day is coming fast but Kathleen is a Scroogette. Long ago, her father took off at holiday time, never to return. She insists that there be no decorations at the eatery and that the place will remain open on the Great Day. In addition, a newspaper food critic has ticked her off as well. So, she is in a bad mood when its quitting time. Ho, ho, things get worse when some punks try to mug her. But, happily, an old man, Sam (Muse Watkins) scares them off. Giving him a ride to the bus station, the two learn that Sam has missed his Greyhound. Not knowing what else to do, Kathleen invites him to stay with her, despite their recent friendship. Kathleen gets an additional guest when her boyfriend drops off his daughter, Lucy, in another emergency event. Having met once in the past, the two females don't really like or trust each other. But, stay together a bit they must. The last complication is a heavy snowfall, which prevents the three house mates from going anywhere the next day.....and the next. But, strangely, Sam begins to work more magic, helping Kathleen and Lucy start a friendship. Then, the weather improves and Sam comes up missing. Why has he gone without saying goodbye? This is truly a sweet Christmas film, with religious overtones, but rather somber. Nevertheless, its main theme of forgiveness is just what everyone needs. Stewart and Watkins are excellent, as is the young girl playing Lucy. Also pleasing are the sets, costumes, direction and heartfelt tale. For those who like to celebrate the holidays with a film, this is a nice choice.
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5/10
Cute, but not well written
heamovies10 December 2012
Am I the only one that thought the boyfriend was out of line charging in *with no notice* to his (clearly not longstanding) girlfriend's house WITH his kid's suitcase and expecting the girlfriend to take care of the kid overnight? And then, later, he has the sheer audacity to get peeved at her for taking in the man who saved her life, because she may be endangering his daughter?

This all happens early on as mostly the setup for the story, but I lost a lot of respect for the main character in those two scenes, because in everything else she's portrayed as tough as nails, and if she'd kept in character she would have told the guy to forget it. This scenario made it easy for the writer to set up the next events, but it made the story less strong. Even a small conversation about why he hadn't phoned her first to ask her if it was all right or even actually phoning and her agreeing to it would have saved both those characters in my eyes.
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6/10
Slow
Christmas-Reviewer26 October 2016
BEWARE OF FALSE REVIEWS & REVIEWERS. SOME REVIEWERS HAVE ONLY ONE REVIEW TO THEIR NAME. NOW WHEN ITS A POSITIVE REVIEW THAT TELLS ME THEY WERE INVOLVED WITH THE FILM. IF ITS A NEGATIVE REVIEW THEN THEY MIGHT HAVE A GRUDGE AGAINST THE FILM . NOW I HAVE REVIEWED OVER 200 HOLIDAY FILMS. I HAVE NO AGENDA. I AM HONEST!

A woman unable to separate the joys of the Christmas season from the pain of her family past gets snowed in with two people who help her to realize what it takes to find true happiness. Thirty years ago, Kathleen's father left the house on Christmas Eve, and never came back. Ever since that day, Kathleen (Catherine Mary Stewart) has blamed her mother for breaking up…

This film is slow. The filmmakers could of easily consolidated many scenes or moved things along in a faster pace. This would of served the film better. I don't not fault the actors they are all good. The fault was the approach the director took. The screenplay however has flaws as well.

Now this film could have been better but it is forgettable. If you watch this at night by morning you will forget the basic plot.

That was my experience.
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Wonderful family film!
sandbar-774-69013824 June 2010
Christmas hasn't been the same for Kathleen since her father left one Christmas Eve. This Christmas is different. She's thrown together with a young girl and an old man and learns not only how to celebrate the holiday, but also how to love again.

I had the chance to see a preview of this independent film at the Gideon Film Festival. This is a very heartwarming story about a Grinch-like woman who finds love, peace, and forgiveness--a true Christmas story. I loved the performances by Muse Watson and Catherine Mary Stewart, and newcomer Cameron Ten Napel could well be the next Abigail Breslin.

If you have the chance to see this film, I highly recommend it.
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7/10
Rough start, heart warming ending
Jackbv1234 January 2019
Does your dad leaving you and your mom when you were a child justify being mean and rude to just about everyone and acting more of a child than the cute kid you are babysitting? It's a little extreme, but once you get past that, things lighten up and Cameron Ten Napel shines as a precocious, cute, and very wise child. The last half of the movie, especially the ending is very heart warming.

This is a faith based movie with one theological problem that we'll just ignore. There is a strong message about forgiving, faith, and family.

The sappy meter is quite high on this one, so if you don't like sappy, then be warned.

Should I mention that the ground is almost bare of snow except for a few patches on the day after a blizzard shuts down the city so bad that the lady can't even drive to work? Just ignore all that too.
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1/10
Pretty awful.
cathed8 December 2019
So slow. So improbable. So sappy. Actors aren't great. This is a faith-based movie, so be warned. Subtlety is not this film's strong suit. If you are looking for a film to mention God and throw in some bible reading, this is the film for you.
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6/10
A faithful gift
TheLittleSongbird25 February 2020
'A Christmas Snow', yet another recently seen Christmas film seen during my favourite holiday, could have gone either way. It could either have been very charming, cute and heart-warming, which is more my idea of what a Christmas film should be like. Or it could have been too schmaltzy and forced with unsubtle moralising. There are quite a number of examples of both extremes around, as well as a fair share of festive films that have elements of both and induce mixed feelings with me.

One Christmas film that fits into both camps and has elements of all the above is 'A Christmas Snow'. It is better than average with a good deal to like, one can see why it would connect with viewers and the effort that was put in. For me though, for all its good intentions and that it had its heart in the right place, it was not a great film and it is not hard to see why there are people that didn't care for it (also understand, and share some of, their reasoning).

It's a good looking film. Nice scenery. Slickly filmed. The music avoids being too constant or over-scored and captures the essence of Christmas quite well. There are thoughtful and moving moments in the script, the direction is visually slick and while far from perfect is not cold in the emotional department.

There is charm here, it gets very heart-warming towards the end, some of the second half is very poignant and the children are cute without being too cutesy. The actors all do quite well, Cameron Ten Napel is very heartfelt and Muse Watson's sincerity really shines through.

However, 'A Christmas Snow' can go too overboard on the sappiness so parts are too sickly sweet. While the film does pick up, it doesn't have the most promising of starts. The first half has a tendency at times to move too slowly and some of the story is very contrived.

Can see where one reviewer is coming from regarding the boyfriend, that did not strike me as realistic and yes she should have behaved tougher. Liked the well intended messaging but it could have been executed with a lot more subtlety.

On the whole, a little above average but for me it wasn't great. 6/10
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1/10
Garbage
rsurban26 December 2019
Stupid and badly acted, written by a feeble-minded hack with no idea how human beings behave...
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9/10
A Christmas Snow
mscott-775-62600326 June 2010
A Christmas Snow is a must see movie that deals with the outward and inward problems we all experience in our daily lives. It is a fantastic story about life's mistakes, forgiveness, self reflection, family and the inner working relationships of each of these areas. Not being a professional movie critic, but, dealing with my own life problems and those of many friends and family, I can honestly say that this is a life changing movie. Whether it changes your life for moments, hours, weeks, months or a lifetime, it WILL change your life.

Take the time to watch and experience the struggles of these characters as you reflect on your own life experiences. If you're not changed by this movie, it will be the only thing that surprises this viewer.

Take the time to watch this, be patient as the movie develops it's plot and let me know if YOU cry in the end, I surely did!! Enjoy
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1/10
Quite possibly the worst movie ever
treyintexas12 December 2022
Honestly, ever scene has me wondering if this is a spoof/satire/parody.

If that were the case, this might be a pretty decent movie.

Unfortunately, since it isn't, this is just awful.

Nothing makes any sense. Absolutely nothing is anywhere near believable.

If I had the energy to look it up, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that this was created during a writer's strike and the production staff came up with the idea of playing mad-libs to generate a storyline.

The actions of the lead character, "Kathleen", can only be explained by suffering from serious mental health issues. Actually, make that MULTIPLE mental health issues. All of which are either undiagnosed or unmedicated. Mix that with the personality of a selfish, completely self-absorbed lump of entitlement.

If that's not enough, let's force a biblical narrative into an already meandering "plot", complete with reading passages from the Good Book.
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8/10
Good Christmas Movie
mebliban12 December 2013
This falls in the category of sappy Christmas movie, but it's a good one. It's a sweet story with likable characters and a satisfying ending.

Like most Christmas and/or feel good movies, the plot is a bit contrived, but nothing too far fetched. I especially enjoyed the young girl - once she got over the bratty phase and started letting her personality show. The old man - Sam - gave a heartwarming performance, and his reading of the story of Simeon was beautiful.

There is a message of faith, but it's subtle and you certainly don't feel preached at.
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10/10
One of the few Christmas films that mentions the nativity - - -
sheldonlinda22 December 2019
1:44 a.m. I don't have the Hallmark Channel, but have somehow managed to see lots of Hallmark-esque Christmas movies the last few years (thank you KBYU and Light t.v.) So far I haven't seen mention of the nativity in any of them.

"48 Christmas Wishes" "The Christmas Village" "A Very Corgi Christmas" "Blizzard" "12 Days of Christmas"

What about even "Shoelaces for Christmas" and "Christmas Jars" which have local connections? Even "Christmas Oranges" I'm not sure mentions religion to any great extent.

"Christmas Snow" - made by some mainstream Christians - is the only one that does mention the nativity. It has a very very sweet Christmas pageant, and a very strong spirit.
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10/10
Very Heartwarming Movie about Forgiveness
jchurchill-699141 January 2019
Wonderful Christmas movie with a great message about the power of forgiveness. The actors are great and not cheesy. They make the story very real and believable.
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8/10
Heartwarming, not just for Christmas.
cwillard-8600327 July 2017
Warning: Spoilers
I bought this after seeing it in the store one holiday season. The main reason was because of Catherine Mary Stewart and Muse Watson. The rest of the cast were good in their own right as well. While the story is long at times, it is needed to explain all of the past, and Kathleen and the reasons she refuses to celebrate Christmas. While some may see no need for a secular message beneath the surface, it was the main part at the end. Kathleen truly learns that the power of forgiveness can really come from within.
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8/10
Good movie but don't may be misleading...
vgolfgirl1821 December 2011
Warning: Spoilers
This was a very good movie and very touching, but I have to say that I feel that for being a Christian movie it was misleading. This is a spoiler so don't read if you don't want it given away. But basically the dad who abandoned his daughter dies and comes back unbeknownst to her and stays at her house for a couple of days. Later we as viewers learn that he had died and just wanted to see his daughter one more time.

I loved this movie until then, because in the bible it says you die and are with God. Not here on earth tying up lose ends. And also there are angels and there are people and you can never be both so when he came back it had to be him. I don't know, I just wanted to warn some that this is not a very biblical movie with having a dead person on earth.

That said it has a good moral story but for me I couldn't look past the fact that it is a professed Christian movie but the sam situation is not biblical at all.
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9/10
Really enjoyed, made my kid watch
prog-418013 March 2019
I really liked this movie, watching it again with my adult son.
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10/10
Christmas Snow 2010
mitchellrharl11 January 2021
Catherine Mary Stewart Cameron Teri Napel and Muse Watson he is a wonderful actor great voice like Sam Elliott. Great writing love these kind of movies nothing like hallmark too pretentious and elitist.
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10/10
Good movie
funtimeswithgoldenknight30 November 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Its a good movie I liked it and when I found out that Sam was her dad and that he died and was an angel that came back and wanted to see his daughter again was such a good film and it made me cry when she started opening the gifts that he had left for her and it made me cry even harder when he appears across the street and said marry Christmas katie after she showed him the pocket watch and I thought it would be a normal Christmas movie but it was even better than any normal Christmas movie especially with Mike franks from ncis playing Sam and that's why Sam from that movie is my favorite character from this movie and i want to watch it again and again and again until I get tired of it.10000 out of 10 stars would recommend it to anyone looking for a good Christmas movie.
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