Prancer (1989)

Waste of time

Really Surprised!

It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

Blistering performances.

I love this movie because it brings me to tears at multiple points but doesn't taste sickly sweet or manufactured. With clutter and tight rooms, their old farmhouse looks like it was plucked straight from the Michigan countryside rather than designed on a Hollywood set. The actors look like real people that you would find in a small rural town - heavy-set bodies, frizzy hair, wrinkles, and lived-in wardrobes. Sam Elliot is in perfectly rugged form as the grieving, widowed father.Some of the themes are dark for a children's Christmas film. The little girl, Jessica, is grieving her mother's death. She discusses the existence of God with her school friend. Her father struggles to keep their family afloat and is faced with tough decisions that may tear them apart.And while the movie is comfortably rooted in the real world, there's just enough Christmas-wish-fulfillment to make the movie sparkle. The townspeople are close-knit and know each other's first names. There are Christmas carolers, candle-lit church services, and a constant blanket of beautiful snow on the ground. Oh, and there's a reindeer that just might be Santa's Prancer.Underneath the literal storyline, the film is about faith and the power of belief. It reminds us that Christmas is a time to once again believe in a magic beyond which we can see - a belief that comes so easy during childhood.Give this under-praised Christmas classic a try and you won't be disappointed. Kids will love the Prancer storyline while adults will end up sobbing watching the father-daughter relationship deepen and grow. "Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside the curtain and view the supernal beauty and glory beyond."

a wound reindeer and precocious 8 yr old form an enduring friendship and a bond in this tender holiday drama about true devotion this enchanting full of love heart this film will set Ur mind a light Jessica Riggs played by Rebbecca Harrell she plays her character very tender she plays an angel in her school play but she becomes a real guardian angel when she spot what she thinks is prance injured in the snow but her father who is SAM Elliott who is over bearing and the family is falling apart wants the shot the deer but before he gets his gun the deer disappears but when she finds that she can feed him and look after him she sees a shop Santa but ask him to get a message to Santa that she is helping prance get better and she only realize her story is told in a different form of media that jess there is a Santa and prance does exist in and has to get him back to to the ridge Xmas eve but her father is not a believer but her passion brings the best out the town and a legend is born in this snowy magical story that will have everyone uplifted in this magical story to lift even the cynical cold stone person a worth the Xmas watch at 1hr39min 7/10 classic

"Prancer" is about a young girl, Jessica Riggs, who unexpectedly finds a wounded reindeer, whom she believes belongs to Santa. With her father under financial pressure, and who ignores her a lot, she has a tough time. She wants to look after it and nurse it, but has to do it secretly since her father is against it and could kill it at any moment. She often have minor fights and arguments with her father regarding family matters and her own life. Meanwhile, her duty, she feels is to take good care of Prancer.Jessica Riggs's role was played by Rebecca Harrell, and she must have been the perfect young child to do the role. Her natural, childlike attitude couldn't have got any better, and that was seen in the movie.I still remember myself crying a bit while watching it as a child. It still brings tears in my eyes while watching even today. I advise those who wish to watch this movie watch it by around Christmas, and that would be the right time....And believe me, you won't be disappointed.

Don't get me wrong I really love this movie and it never fails to put a lump in my throat however... (SPOILER AHEAD) I only wish towards the end they didn't show that really goofy special effect streak across the sky and Prancer flying off to join Santa. Sure it adds the magic element that every Christmas movie needs but it would have been much better just to have the hoof prints going to the cliff and have Jesse hear the bells. It would have gone more along the lines of what the father was saying when he read the passage from "Yes Virginia There is a Santa Claus" that as long as you believe, there is a Santa Claus and there is a Prancer. (END SPOILER) Despite this one short coming I still give the movie a 9/10 1 point taken off for the ending. If you haven't seen it go out and rent it because it is usually overshadowed by "A Christmas Story" and every version of Scrooge imaginable during the holiday season.