BEWARE OF BOGUS REVIEWS. SOME REVIEWERS HAVE ONLY ONE REVIEW TO THEIR NAME. NOW WHEN ITS A POSITIVE REVIEW THAT TELLS ME THEY WERE INVOLVED WITH THE MOVIE. IF ITS A NEGATIVE REVIEW THEN THEY MIGHT HAVE A GRUDGE AGAINST THE FILM . NOW I HAVE REVIEWED OVER 200 HOLIDAY FILMS. I HAVE NO AGENDA. I AM VERY FARE ABOUT THESE FILMSThis film is such a pleasure to watch. Older adults will enjoy this more than people under 30. It also nice to see a film where great actors are given great material to work with. In this film Widower John Tanner (Jason Robards) is unhappy that he has to miss a longstanding Christmas gathering with his son Jim (Jim Eckhouse) and his family. So to avoid being alone, he decides to hire a platonic companion for the holidays, enlisting the services of forlorn escort Iris (Julie Harris). He makes it clear from the beginning, however, that there will be no hanky-panky between the two. But sparks begin to fly when charming John begins to warm Iris' bitter and bleary heart.This film is not what you will expect. The film really shines because it does show on hard hard the holidays can be for people when they are facing it alone. It also shows however "The person you are may not be the package you are presenting". I will watch this again. Its special.

I just watched this movie recently for the first time, although it is over 20 years old, and found it to be generally well-acted and entertaining but had some obvious flaws. First of all, the main actors, Jason Robards and Julie Harris, were outstanding in the roles of two people meeting for the first time for a weekend of friendship and company. Robards as the male lead who arranged the weekend liaison through a dating service seemed very comfortable as the ageing architect with family and friends but longing for that special someone. Julie Harris was the woman he was matched with and she was also convincing as the shy but quite compatible weekend companion. The two together find great pleasure in the beautiful setting by the lake, their Christmas dinner, and their play time. There is no particular need for love-making; that's not part of the plan, as sketched out by Robards, which is a huge relief to his companion who prefers a totally platonic holiday. The two seem so well matched and yet there is a gulf between them. The ending will not be to everyone's liking but then life can't always pan out as we would wish.I found the film-making paid little attention to detail as the Christmas setting was more like Thanksgiving than Christmas. Even in the United States people know that fall colour is over by December 25. It was also obvious to anyone familiar with Toronto that the movie was filmed there and not in the eastern United States, as the film would imply. These incongruities detract from the movie's appeal. Nevertheless, it is worth watching for the interaction between the two main actors.

I enjoyed this movie and thought it was artfully done, and very poignant. It was a definite "chick flick". Sadly for me, the CD, which I checked out at the local library, had a flaw in it right at the critical moment which lead up to the "secret". I could not get it to play and I had to skip to the ending. It stopped right as Iris was going to tell her secret. Please, someone let me know what that secret was. I missed all of the scene from where she was pouring him coffee and onwards. The next scene I saw was when he dropped her off at the bus stop. I would really like to know what her secret was!! I can imagine all sorts of things, but my suspicion is that she was married.

I really liked this movie. Who was this woman? Why was she here? All questions are answered, but the answer may surprise you. This is an easy movie to watch, no foul language, no violence or explicit sexual content. If you're looking for something fast paced rock-em-sock em,this is not your movie....but for a wholesome, a bit intelligent movie, you can't beat it. The main actress has been on other movies from the 50s to the 90s, maybe more recently I don't know. I've seen her in East of Eden and The Christmas Tree.The main character, the male actor, had a problem, an event in his like that had been causing him pain. He expected this encounter to solve it, which it did, but in a way he did not expect. Neither will you. See it. ITs good