A Country Christmas (2013)

What a beautiful movie!

brilliant actors, brilliant editing

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

I guess I'm not a skeptic as so many of these reviewers seem to be! I loved this movie. Just take it for what it is - a cute, cuddly Christmas movie that makes kids (and adults!) believe in the magic of Santa. Totally harmless. Yes the acting is not "sterling" but I love the story line. I love the part where Santa says "now you see it; now you don't". At first it works. Then it doesn't! DOH! I just found that humorous. The child actors are "precious" but appealing in their portrayals of the kids who must save Christmas.And I must say I'm a sucker for movies with talking animals, even though their mouths aren't even moving. (See "My Dad is Scrooge") I really enjoyed watching this. Good for all of the family.

The Good: most of this movie is acceptable for small children and there are some lessons learned. The children are reminded that they are disobeying their parents in a way by sneaking out to see and hide Santa and his elf. And Santa pays a price for breaking the Santa rules by stepping in to save a sick woman's life. So there is some redeeming quality.Oh, the cameo appearance of Trace Adkins was cool...gotta love him The Bad: The acting. This movie is so bad regarding the script. Yes, if you want simple minded dialog for a 5 year old, some of this movie works well; the problem is the writers have the children speaking at a vocabulary and structure level way beyond their years...it's simply not believable and especially the little boy/brother is nearly painful to watch speak, it's soooo corny. If you yearn for the days of bad 1950's and 60's series shows, this movie is for you.The reason this movie is PG is because the mother had terminal cancer and Santa cures it...which means Santa broke the Santa Rule by intervening, thus he is stripped of his Santa-hood and made a mortal, and his sidekick elf then becomes Santa. Without the cancer element, this movie is on about 4 to 7 year old mental level, then they throw in such a depressing twist with the cancer and Santa (who is a wonderful endearing character) becoming mortal and replaced by the elf. That is a mental twist for small children.A lot of people love this because it is steeped in religion, which is the reason for the season of course, but Santa, as we see him in the modern world has nothing to do with religion anymore. Our kids are seldom taught the origins of where the fable of Santa comes from and why he is part of our Christmas.Christians are so desperate for anything that frequently refers to "the man upstairs" and entertainment with a thick dose of Jesus in it, they are going to love this movie because Christianity is under attack by secularists in America. This kinda feels like a "Christian" movie but fails to complete the idea properly.I just did not like this movie. I would rather watch something about the ACTUAL story of Jesus including the crucifixion. If we are going to teach kids about death and faith, that would be a good start. Santa is not a healer, Jesus was.

This is so bad it isn't worth the effort. Acting is bad, plot teaches kids its okay to lie to parents. Kids riding in cars without seatbelts. Music is drab. It may be intended as an analogy of the war on Christmas but it falls way short. Spoiler....Santa breaks a rule and displays healing power. That causes him to become just a mortal.After he becomes mortal he turns into a bibbed overall farm hands. The final scene the children open a present. The new Santa tells them "some rules are meant to be broken."

I have known about this Christmas Movie for a long time because I am a huge Trace Adkins fan.I saw the trailer for this movie several times and YES Trace Adkins is in the movie so the combination was the reason I bought the movie. I waited until Christmas to watch the movie. I give it 10 stars. This is a movie for a whole family to watch together. I will be purchasing more copies for Christmas gifts for next year.I highly recommend! I really like the movie!After the movie is over keep watching there is more to see!You can also insert the DVD into your computer for more fun.