The Christmas Path (1998)
Review by Dindrane
Film:
DVD:

Written & Directed by Bernard Salzman
Starring Dee Wallace-Stone, Vincent Spano, Shia LeBeouf, Madylin Sweeten, Marcia Wallace, Allan Rich, Diane McBain, and Nicholas Hormann

Released by: GT Brands
Rating: PG
Region: 1
Anamorphic: No; appears in a 1.33:1 aspect ratio

My Advice: Buy any one of a hundred Christmas classics instead.

In the grand old tradition of Christmas spirit movies, Jenny Banks (Wallace-Stone) has all kinds of problems. Her husband has died recently, leaving her struggling to support her two children: troubled pain in the neck Cal (LaBeouf) and sweet, pure, stuffed-with-faith Dora (Sweeten). It seems that Santa also has some issues--Cal’s lack of faith is creating a gap in the road by which Santa reaches the rest of us here on Earth. In order to redress this problem, Santa sends the problematic angel Balthazar (Spano) to teach Cal to believe again. Can this troubled angel save the troubled child by Christmas?

Of course the plot is rather hackneyed and stock. The climax of the film is right out of Miracle on 34th Street, when Balthazar defends his angel-ness and Christmas spirit in front of an uncaring court, and the outcome is just as pre-determined. Too bad it lacks the drama and skill of that earlier film. All the traditional Christmas elements are here: the struggling single widow, the rational, troubled boy child, the naíve, but adorable girl child, and the angel who has to make it all work out or else. This time, we aren’t entirely sure what Balthazar did to get into trouble, but he may as well be Clarence or any one of a thousand other touched-by-an-angels.

The acting is actually not all that bad, which is a shame as they are given absolutely nothing to work with here. Spano tries valiantly to make his angel interesting, but it just doesn’t quite get there. The character of Cal exists in the film only to be irritating and a nay-sayer, so even LeBeouf’s charming take on this kid can do so much. Dora is cute and prettily smiling as the voice of faith in this film, and serves her purpose (to make Cal look mean), but nothing more. And Wallace-Stone struggles as virtuously as she must to be the perfect, moral, long-suffering mother figure.

There are no extras on this release. The audio and video are both fine, but who cares? There’s nothing really interesting going on. The cinematographer and director must have been as uninspired as the rest of us.

In short, if you love any movie that has anything to do with Christmas, then you’ll like this movie. If, on the other hand, you like Christmas movies but still want, you know, creativity, skill, or artistry in your films, then you’re better off renting any one of the other Christmas classics and watching them again. No matter how tired you are of It’s a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Carol, or Miracle on 34th Street, you’ll still enjoy them more on the fiftieth viewing than you’ll enjoy this. It’s really too bad when the message of hope, honesty, and faith are lost in the maudlin, saccharine posing of films such as this. Christmas deserves better.