Lost Christmas (2011)

Dreadfully Boring

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Lost Christmas is a sad, melancholy and twisted tale of damaged and seemingly unconnected people in the city of Manchester.'Goose' is a 10 year old boy who on Christmas Eve hides his fireman dad's car keys in the hope that he will not go to work at Christmas. However his mum drives him to work and both are killed in a car accident.A year later, Goose is no longer the bright ten year old kid but a more streetwise kid who is supporting his grandmother through petty crime. A mysterious man appears out of nowhere. He calls himself Anthony, he has no recollection of who he is, where he came from. He can find things that are lost.It sounds like a bleak tale for Christmas, particularly one aimed at families but it is a story about redemption and second chances. Like a ripple on a pond cause by the throwing of a pebble, you find that the various tragedies that befalls various characters are somehow interconnected. Maybe Anthony can find some sort of solace for the lost people around him but can he turn back time?It may lack the usual Christmas sentimentality that this type of films usually have but it also lacks the cynicism but is realistic enough to connect to today's kids.

I'm a sucker for tales about redemption,and in "Lost Christmas" we have several redemptions for the price of one,interwoven round a brilliant performance by Mr Eddie Izzard as a kind of Clarence the angel waiting to earn his wings.A small boy hides his father's car keys at Christmas,triggering a series of events that expand like the ripples on a pond into a series of minor and major tragedies that are seemingly unconnected until the apparently amnesiac Anthony (Mr Izzard)arrives to eventually turn chaos into order,changing history at the same time. Like "Quantum Leap" with added holly and mistletoe really. I found it to be moving and generous of spirit,refreshingly lacking in the smart cynicism that infects so much TV today.If you want post - modern irony for Christmas,go and look elsewhere. At the end no one actually says "God bless us one and all",but the message is the same.

Reasonably well done. Pretty well acted with an originalish take on a Christmas Carol. Eddie Izzard did seem to be playing a toned down version of his stand up piece, and that led to the piece not knowing if it was serious or light hearted. The boy was excellent, as was the uncle, and as always, Geoffrey Palmer, despite his part being so small. The issue I had was the playing of the Grandmother's dementia for laughs. Putting the turkey in the washing machine, buttering Christmas cards; all showed a lack of respect, and most likely a team of writers who have no idea of the difficulties of the disease. It really spoiled an otherwise decent piece. Shame.

There are numerous Christmas classics that we all know and love. And this year one has been added to the list. Lost Christmas is a poignant story that will touch the hearts of many. We are all familiar with A Christmas Carol, where we meet with the Ghost of Christmas Past, Present and Future. But what if we've forgotten one on this list? What about the Ghost of Christmas Lost? We start the story of a young boy who goes by the nickname of Goose who receives a puppy as a Christmas present. As he is so keen to go for a walk with his dad and the dog, but his dad cannot join him and so a chain of events is set in motion. This child's simple wish of wanting his dad home rather than going to work will alter the course of many lives. One night, Frank, Goose's uncle, meets Anthony a man he sees lying in the street, who seems to be babbling nonsense and vanishes as fast as he appears. Anthony seems to have no recollection of who he is, where he came from nor where he's supposed to go but he seems to know things. Find things that are lost and make lives whole again.The performance of the cast was brilliant and intense. I fell in love with Anthony's innocence, inherent sweetness, fearlessness and brutal honesty. Eddie Izzard's performance is flawless and stellar. The way Eddie brought Anthony to life is done in such a manner that I will remember Anthony for each Christmas to come in my life. He might be the Ghost of Christmas Lost but I'll see him as an Angel too. I have seen almost all of Eddie's work and I must say this performance has to be one of his best.In casting Larry Mills as Goose, we see a rare performance of a child that brings so much life to a character that he becomes real. I foresee a long career for this young man, that will take him many places. I can't wait to see what he will do next. John Hay did a marvelous job into bringing the story to life, he has a great vision on how to bring raw emotions to the screen, so much so that you're not simply following a story on a screen but you're right there with them joining them on this incredible adventure. A rare and precious gift to have. The lingering camera shots all over the city bring you to a different world, indeed the world of an urban fairytale.And in praise of the writers of the story, I love the fact that the story seems to work on so many levels so that both children and adults will appreciate the story. When children grow older and see the film again I am sure they will be amazed at realizing more and more of the underlying story they might have overlooked when younger.All in all a wonderful, touching, loving Christmas story that will linger with you a long time after the film is done.