This is one of those movies you can watch every year at Christmas time. Great story and superb acting. This is one of my favorite TV Christmas movies. Plus the fact that it is based on fact helps. Normally Christmas TV movies have the same basic story line, you know the ending, it is just how the story gets there. With this movie you are kept wondering just how is it going to turn out.

A story about Chistmas. Withaut Santa, carols or ethical lesson. A story about the differences between people as only little shadows, about the force of every mother , about the colors of war and its essential nuances. So, it is difficult to say if it is god, bad, spectacular or boring. Because this film is, in fact, a form of pray. Self definition. And testimony of a night which lives in every soul. In few words, food for soul. An experience. And invitation to define what is important in our lives. The recipes is same of Hallmark movies. But , i believe, it is a moment, in interesting times, when movies like it may be tasted for not have the feature of a shadow.

As World War II draws to a close, three Nazis encounter three American GIs outside a shack in the woods on a snowy Christmas Eve. The shack's inhabitants, a German woman (Linda Hamilton) and her young son, invite the soldiers to come in out of the cold -- as long as they leave their weapons outside. An uneasy truce ensues. Everyone does his best to make the place Christmas-y, and they share a modest meal. And each has his own story to tell. Based on a true story, this TV movie is first rate. You likely will not recognize anyone in this Canadian-lenses flick other than Hamilton, but they are all very convincing in their roles. Beautifully photographed and designed. Kudos to the scripters and director, too.

I came here for a review last night before deciding which TV movie to settle in front of, and those I found made this one look unmissable. How misled I feel!Firstly, it needs to be pointed out up front that this is very much a housewife's daytime movie. The performances are wooden, every sentence is an attempt at 'poignant' in the way that housewife's daytime movies and bad soap operas always are, and it is based in that predictable and well-trodden premise that men (particularly soldiers) are essentially violent and incompassionate. The whole movie is about the 'drama' apparent in the moments when the male characters threaten to develop a second dimension.If that sounds tolerable (or even enjoyable) to you, then be warned. Linda Hamilton's German accent, while quite good, is painfully distracting - as is her face, for some reason. The other performances are no doubt an enduring source of embarrassment to their perpetrators, with painfully thin and obvious characterizations being the order of the day. There are few surprises, but do watch for the 'Monty Pythonesque' endless supply of food and drink that miraculously appears from the hungry soldiers' knapsacks!I wasn't expecting action, but I had hoped for beautiful or textural or emotionally charged. What I got was a particularly bad Christmas 'feelgood' story that will have an intelligent audience cringing with the crapulence of it all.Watch it under the folowing circumstances: 1: There's nothing else on. 2: You are a fan of predictable 'housewife takes on men and wins' TV movies. 3: The only way you can appreciate a true story is when Hollywood turns it into a feature film. 4: You've imbibed enough nog that your emotions are easily stirred by unsophisticated storytelling.