Our First Christmas (2008)

Best movie ever!

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

This is a great film. It is as family as a "The Brady Bunch" episode and is that is not a bad thing. Its heartfelt. It comes across as "Real People" adjusting to new family members and I love the fact that is does have the "Typical Love Conquers All" ending but, the ending is moving it makes you wish there was maybe this much love in your own family.A movie about blending a family is almost as old as movies themselves. This film has a "Great Cast" and I can't wait to see this again next Christmas! Widower Tom Baer, a school counselor, recently married school coach Cindy Noll, a widow. Their respective offspring gets along fairly well, despite different parenting styles, but as their first Christmas with all step-siblings approaches, each set is desperate to respect their own seasonal traditions, reminiscent of their late parents. Tom's father, retired preacher Joe Noll, and Cindy's mother-in-law (from her deceased husband, Dave), Evie, a businesswoman, each liked by both, hoped to bridge the gap, but when that fails, she returns home alone. Just that gets the kids reconsidering their pouting pact. ONE OF THE BEST HALLMARK FILMS OUT THERE~

Made-for-TV (Hallmark Channel) production, one of about a hundred in the past decade alone. So many have lost their way, using Christmas in name only when the story itself has so little to do with Christmas. Here we get a different treat, a 1 in 10 movie that actually works. Despite taking place in Southern California, it's quite Christmasy throughout. The holiday spirit is the background for this. Unfortunately another background exists -- the orchestral score which is so in your ears at times that it's distracting. Why add that in so heavily? It's like they don't want to rely on strength of script to carry the film. Strip the score away and you get drama. Add it in you get schmaltz. Score aside, this is pretty good. Dixie Carter and John Ratzenberger are such a joy here! Anything with Cliff from Cheers is definitely worth seeing! Such a good and warm actor! The end result works and is sure to pull at the heartstrings the way a good Christmas movie should! Worth seeing!6.4 / 10--Zoooma, a Kat Pirate Screener

A+ to everyone involved in this Christmas movie.This is a perfect example of how a family holiday movie should be made. It had every angle covered to keep your interested with a ending that makes you happy and tear.This movie is about 2 families who each lost a mom/dad who come together in marriage and each side "kids" wanting their own tradition Christmas. Not giving in and sticking by their own "selfish" desires causes tension within the family.I really liked John Ratzenberger in this movie as the logical calm grandpa. His chemistry between the kids and parents was only over shadowed by his sincerity to Dixie Carter, the mother in law. Ratzenberger is a very good drama actor, a far cry from Cliff on cheers. John, can I have your autograph? heheThe storyline between the mom and dad's tension was well written, and even better was how everyone intermingled with their own sub-plots. In the end, the entire story was wrapped up perfectly.SPOILER -- *** When Dixie carter goes home and Ratzenberger goes to get her, WOW, that was so well written i would give a award to John for that alone. The tears rolled from my eyes from there, and my heart made me think of my family until the final climactic ending with grandma walking in living room.The only thing I would have changed a bit was the ending and families reaction when Dixie walked in. Don't get me wrong, it was good, but they could have did something a little better, maybe a bow around Dixie, lol.... They should have put a dramatic momentary pause in the kids faces when they saw grandma, maybe tears in their eyes before they ran to her.To me, this movie was Christmas perfection.It's a MUST SEE for anyone who loves family movies. A+++MERRY Christmas 2008

Christmas is jeopardized when a newly blended family can't seem to get together on how to celebrate the holiday. All is seemingly made well when the two kids from the dad's side decide to go with what the daughter of their stepmom wants, which is to spend the holiday in Boulder. Unbeknownst to them, that daughter has decided it will be best to skip Boulder and stay in town for a Christmas Eve pageant in which her two step-siblings usually perform. To complicate matters, the former mother-in-law of the wife shows up for an extended stay and has her own ideas. The heart of this typical Hallmark TV movie is Dixie Carter's performance as the grandma to the Boulder-loving daughter. As always, Carter is terrific. And she is nicely supported by John Ratzenberger as the fun-loving and very shrewd grandpa to the pageant-loving kiddies. Ratzenberger and Carter play off each other very nicely. A pregnant-looking Julie Warner is the wife being pushed and pulled by the three kids.