I always like Christmas themed films and had enjoyed Rob Lowe's Sam Seaborn in The West Wing so had high hopes for this film.For the first hour or so it's a decent film. We've seen the concept of a small town writer getting a hit and becoming famous only to lose his family lots of times before but for the most part it's an enjoyable plot with Lowe giving a good performance and Paget Brewster stealing every scene from him.But then the change happens. It gets dark, it gets twisted and grim which for a Christmas film you don't need. The ending is trite and rushed leaving you wondering why you cared for these characters in the first place. I can see why the writers felt that it needed to shake the film up a bit but this was far too much.

"A Perfect Day" is tolerably preachy, tolerably predictable, tolerably sentimental -- and provides a perfect (mind-wandering) way to wile away 90 minutes with your eyes half-glued to the TV set (and possibly wishing Rob Lowe were 20 years younger).The "guardian angel" surprise at the end (if not all that convincing) was appreciably clever enough to allow me to award the film three generous stars.Without expecting anything intellectually challenging or profound, go right ahead and watch it once -- then make a gift of it to a simpering relative.

My summary says it all, We have seen this type film so many times before & yet due to some fine acting & knowing its a TV movie from TNT. I did not expect more than I saw.Rob Lowe can to this type role in his sleep, He is a very fine actor but has yet to find a role to match his potential,.The rest of fine cast is from TV, they include,Christopher LLoyd,Frances Conroy, Rowena King, Paget Brewster & Meggie Geisland as cute daughter Carson, You must have a cutechild in this type of film.I also liked the fact the film was not cloyingly clever.It is a pleasant 91 minute DVD. with NO annoying out of place song score.Eatings: *** )out of 4) 81 points (out of 100)IMDB 7 )out of 10)

Robert Harlan (Rob Lowe) is a loving husband and father who is down and out looking for work. His wife Allyson (Paget Brewster) is confident he will get back on his feet, and she encourages him to resume writing a book he has been working on sporadically for quite some time. Robert decides to give it a try and he suddenly finds himself in the throes of success, fame and fortune, with assistance from a literary agent, Camille (Frances Conroy). Ultimately, Robert allows his newfound success to alter his priorities and compromise his values. This morality tale is darker than some of the others on TV this time of year, but that is part of its appeal. I really like this movie. Lowe is competent, Brewster's character is completely realistic, and Christopher Lloyd is effective. Worth watching if you happen upon it.