Some of the plot elements aren't just impossible to believe, but send a mixed message about values. (See "Flatter than roadkill", which sums this up well.) The casting of Mary's parents and grandfather made it hard for me to follow the story. The mother looked liked the grandfather's age, and way older than the father, so I couldn't figure out how the grandmother could be dead. (What? Then who's the white-haired lady taking care of the grandfather, his second wife?) The least they could have done was have Mary clearly call her "Mom" from the second she was introduced and several times in her first scene. Maybe the intention was to say "it's okay to not dye your hair, work out, etc. if you and your husband share true love", but it was too confusing to work.

I think this movie didn't get the credit it deserved. As with most movies of faith the dialogue can seem a bit lame, but you have to realize that this is a movie that glorifies God...it's not suppose to be full of worldly stuff.One review said there was no chemistry between the lead actors...I disagree. I think it portrayed the proper relationship of Christians. I am sure he would have probably kissed her in the kitchen, but it didn't show that. Too many times movies show too much. We don't have to see passionate love scenes to know what happens between a man and a woman.Overall, this is a sweet little movie that you can watch with your kids, your grandparents, or your preacher and it puts the idea of serving others at the forefront.I cry every time I watch it! :-)

The '4' is for the scenery, which is lush, and for Erin Karpluk, who turned in her usual competent performance despite the lame dialogue, and for the cute little girl and her dog.The title is a cheap attempt to cash in on the season. This movie has little to do with Christmas except for the obligatory family-togetherness lesson. For family togetherness to work as a plot device, there has to be a smidge of conflict beforehand. But in this movie everyone was so nice, so bland, that their 'apartness' could have been cured with an invitation to dinner or a night of board games in any month before Thanksgiving and the 'project' brought them all together anyway.As someone else mentioned, there was utterly no chemistry between the romantic leads. Even though both Erin and Michael Shanks are competent actors, it's hard to see why they would take roles that offered so little scope for their emotional range either as individuals, romantic partners, or family members. Everybody in this film suffered from botox of the emotions. Believing in God doesn't and shouldn't equal living your whole life in emotional neutral. If you can't know pain, you can't appreciate joy.Frankly, it wasn't the religious expressions that turned me off as much as the blatant unreality of the basic setup. Even Christian business people can't simply walk away from 3 months worth of scheduled work to satisfy their ailing grandfather without suffering consequences to their business's reputation for years to come. That kind of blatant guilt trip ought to be unthinkable for an ethical elder of the family. And any grant-funding organization that steered a huge part of their budget to the family business of an employee's dad would be in serious hot water with everyone from their private donors to the IRA.I had to wonder, too, what message the writers/director thought they were sending, because it came across to me like 'If you're a Christian and pray a lot, you can convince total strangers to allocate millions of dollars to give your family's company money to rebuild an old lodge just because your ailing grandfather once had happy memories there.' Silly me; I thought Christianity meant more than using God like a cash machine. Especially at Christmas.

This was a wonderful, feel good, fun for the whole family type movie. The acting is well done, the characters are believable and real, and the main characters are explored enough so that the audience connects. The scenery is awesome, and having many Canadians on the cast is another plus! One thing that was extremely nice to see was the amount of and quality of references to God. There was no swearing, no violence, no sex - just great acting and a great plot. This is the first movie in a while that I've seen where God isn't just used as a swear word, and prayer was more than "praise the Lord, pass the potatoes". The family seemed to have a real relationship with God, and it was lived out - scripture was quoted, Bible stories referenced. Amazing, and to boot, it was on a channel not normally known for its morality. Awesome!!!!