I don't know if it was the writers or the director that killed the storyline. The little girl was the only endearing character.The Tucker's show up at the cabin in the woods wrapped in their personal blankets trying to stay warm and say it took them 2 hours to walk in the snow to reach the cabin. They followed the lights in the house to get there. Now when they go to leave, they don't have their blankets with them and the oh so loving reformed dad doesn't offer his new found saviors a freakin' ride to their car! It was a 2 hour walk! My take away from the movie is never be like the Montgomery family.

I'm a die-hard, bleeding heart, gullible sucker for the entire season of Christmas movies. But this one? This one made me take the time to sign into IMDb (hardly ever do), in case "telling my story can save one other person from making the same mistake I did".Do yourself a favor, and I dislike being so negative and mean spirited towards those who made this film, but give this one a pass. Even the Folgers Coffee shots in that insipid Mariah Carey Christmas movie can't hold a candle to this vapid production. So many obvious errors/goofs, so corny, so bad... On a positive note, the actor who plays Joe is handsome and sexy.

I really enjoy Christmas tales and even enjoy some of them when they get a bit gloopy but in my opinion through the entire movie I failed to be moved in any sympathetic way whatsoever towards the Montgomery parents (Kristy Swanson and Chris Potter) and thought that her character was blubby to say the least when she should have taken hold of the situation just as a mum for the sake of the kids and he came over as a guy that was selfish to the extreme and showed his children no emotion whatsoever. Then the Tucker family turned up at the door to the cottage with their entourage of kids and they were allowed entry as total strangers through the door with no questions asked as to who they were or what they were doing. It got better when pa Montgomery went out to the car in the middle of a raging storm and got hit by a tree. I thought he'd gone to the car to try and charge his cell phone but it turned out to be otherwise. I'm not going to put any spoilers in as seeing this movie is beyond belief to the extreme and you have to watch it for yourselves but I suspect that the ending was thrown in as an afterthought to cut it all off abruptly and stop any further money being spent on filming. I could go on for ages because I really enjoy movies of all genres but this was dross even for a TV Movie and bore no relationship to real life behaviour in my life experience

not sure what movie the previous reviewers were watching, but I sensed some bitterness from them in their reviews. I found it refreshing from the more predictable boy meets girl in a Christmasland and after clashing at first, fall in love. kiss kiss. mistletoe. merry Christmas. Although you can see what is coming (can't you in any feel-good made-for-TV movie?) this is reality. this is about a family on the verge of falling apart. It addresses REAL issues: a husband entangled in his stressful job, a wife hoping this get away will bring her family closer, a marriage on the brink of divorce, unresolved grief issues, teenagers glued to their e-devices (escaping), a younger sister seeing the stress and trying her darnedest to be a positive influence and keep her parents from getting a divorce (the people pleaser). she prays for a miracle. Enter a family that through example and love help this hurting family. If you are looking for a large cast of characters with tons of drama, this is not for you. If you are looking for romance and sex, this is not for you. If you ARE looking for reality based, maybe even from a hurting family yourself,if you are looking for a positive and uplifting message, then this is for you. I won't spoil the ending but after all it is Christmas, so there has to be one surprise.