Silver Bells (2005)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Just perfect...

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Seemingly typical for Hallmark presentations, "Silver Bells" becomes a bit syrupy during its final act, and takes its time getting there. The story, set in Nova Scotia and New York, gets off to a good start with a father/son conflict in the family Christmas tree business. But the vast middle was difficult for me to watch because a lot of time is spent observing the characters without anything new going on. It was as if they took a good 45 minute film and stretched it to two hours (with commercials).Tate Donovan is Christy Byrne, single father of teenagers Danny (Michael MItchell, looking like a chubby faced Leo DiCaprio) and Bridget (cute Courtney Jines). In November everyone pitches in to harvest the year's crop of trees, bag them, and get them ready to haul to their usual spot in NYC to sell them. But Danny, 16, doesn't look forward to inheriting the tree farm, instead he is an artist, an avid photographer. Tension develops when dad makes him work through the day instead of letting him meet a deadline for pictures for the school yearbook. So the whole movie is about trying to resolve the father/son conflict, and to let both of them experience growth after mom's premature death. Only moderately interesting.SPOILERS. Anne Heche is Catherine Tierney, recently widowed, and works in news and photography, and happens to live very near where the Byrne family has been setting up for years selling their trees. As this particular year of tree sales progresses, young Danny wanders off with his Leica, mesmerized by the city. He and dad have a big argument, Danny strikes him, runs away, dad and sis have to go home without him, police cannot locate him. One year later, back in NYC selling trees, Danny appears, he has been living best he could, Catherine has been giving him odd photography jobs, he studies for his GED, he wants to stay in NY and go to college. He is finally caught after falling from a rooftop trying to elude police, badly injured and brought to the hospital, when he recovers he and dad make a deal, he will stay in NY, and by the way, dad and Catherine end up together in the end. No surprise there. Although, I wonder why he didn't marry the nice homely lady they stayed with when they came to town each year??

Hallmark presented their typical Holiday story that involved a young teenage boy who was very confused and trying to find himself in this big world. He lost his mother and his father did his very best to guide his son, however, there was a conflict between the father and son and he simply took off to the Big Apple and disappeared while the father was selling his Christmas Trees in Manhattan. Ann Heche appears in the film and helps the young runaway establish himself with at least a place to sleep and earn a few bucks. As I was watching this TV film, I began to wonder about the Silver Bells and found this story typical for the Holiday Season, too Sweet for me.

I just love Chistmas stories, all Christmas stories. The photography is excellent. You can almost feel the wonderful chilly weather. This is a film for the entire family having to deal with today's problems: Parent & Child Communication. We have to listen to what our children are saying to us. Often times parents insist on living out their dreams through their children, and not letting their children live out their own dreams. All children are gifted in some way. We as parents have to help our children realize their own dreams. We want to cushion the falls that our little ones are going to have along the way, but experience is an excellent teacher. No matter how old we are, we still keep learning even when we are old and gray. I do wish the full cast would've been listed in the credits. Often times these little films are shown only once, so it is best to plan on watching to see if it will be a "little diamond in the rough". Since I had my trusty VCR working, I'll be able to look at it a second time. There are more of life's lessons to learn in "Silver Bells".

I just finished reading the novel "Silver Bells," by LuAnne Rice this last Friday while on vacation in the woods of Tennessee (and by a roaring fire in the fireplace!). I really liked the book, and was anticipating the TV movie. Normally, the Hallmark Hall of Fame productions are enjoyable; and, and I knew they probably would digress from the book a bit to get it into the television time frame. However, as I sit watching this (as I type, in fact!), I find myself very disappointed in how much the movie digresses from the novel. And, while I have nothing against the acting skills of Anne Heche or Tate Donovan, I wouldn't have pictured either of them for the roles they were given. If I had not read the book, I probably would have rated this movie higher; the movie itself is okay, but if it had stuck closer to the original story, it would have been much better.My suggestion? Skip the movie and read the book--it's magical!