Holiday Movie Noel

Last week, over the holidays, my husband and I watched the movie Noel starring Penélope Cruz, Susan Sarandon, Paul Walker, and Alan Arkin. This movie takes place in NYC on Christmas Eve and tells the story of 5 strangers whose lives cross at different points along the night, all leading to miraculous results in the end. The story is one of peace, understanding, love, comfort, healing and inspiration.

My husband and I both enjoyed this movie - it was different than the usual holiday movies shown on tv (they're usually too much of a chick-flick for my husband to willingly watch). This movie reminds you that the holiday season is filled with magic and miracles truly are closer than you think.

In the write ups about Noel, it's mentioned that the movie will become a holiday classic, like 'It's a Wonderful Life'. I know I'm probably one of the few... but I actually haven't seen this movie, so I can't say if that comparison holds true. While Noel is an inspiring holiday movie that leads to each of the characters discovering new meaning on Christmas day, I'm not certain that it has quite all the makings to become a classic. (Personally, for both my husband and I, one movie, although different in terms of the premise, but one that we definitely consider a holiday classic is A Christmas Story with Peter Billingsley as little Ralphie)

One thing that I do have to mention is in regards to the story line with Jules, played by Marcus Thomas. His story could have been improved upon. While the basis of his story (longing to spend Christmas night in the hospital as that was the best Christmas he had when he was a teenager) touches your heart, how he actually gets himself to be put in the hospital was definitely out of place for the premise of the movie.

Drop me a line if you get a chance to see this movie or if you have already seen it. I recall seeing it on Lifetime TV over the past few weeks.

PS. Congratulations to our winners who won a copy of the movie in the contest we held at BestWeddingSites.com