Dolly plays Ruby Diamond, a less-than-successful country-western bar singer. She dies too soon in an auto accident, after swerving to miss a deer, and becomes sort of an "Angel Second Class". If she doesn't win her wings by 12 midnight Christmas Eve, by doing something "angelic", she may not get to Heaven at all. Not exactly Frank Capra, but very pleasant to watch for "Dolly Fans". (If you aren't one, then you won't like this made-for-TV movie at all.) The story is extremely predictable. There's a lonely family (a dad and two young teenagers) that doesn't celebrate Christmas, because their mom has passed away. Both kids are really too old for a nanny, so she becomes the housekeeper. The father's work relationship with a very nice co-worker is not quite romantic enough and needs to be helped along. Roddy McDowall plays St. Peter and he shows up cleverly in many "Earthly" places. Dolly "pops out" of most of her costumes, of course. Dolly gets to sing a song or two and makes the angelic "Hallelujah" choir at the end. A "squeaky-clean" made for TV movie. Often plays on "Lifetime" and similar channels in December. Enjoyable lightweight Christmas cheer, all the way.

Dolly takes on all three of Julie Andrews' nanny roles as a dead country and western singer who must reunite a family to get her angel wings. After St. Peter (Roddy McDowall) sends her crashing back down to earth in Maria Von Trapp Alps courtier, Dolly takes on the role of nanny for widower Brian Kerwin's two unruly children. Kerwin knows from the start that this nanny is totally different, much like Charles Shaugnessy did with Fran Drescher on the TV series "The Nanny". Like Mr. Sheffield and Miss Fine, there are romantic innuendos, which threatens Parton's Ruby Diamond risking losing her wings. It's all overly sentimental, but with Dolly in the lead, it's not boring. She gets to sing, too, which would make the most maudlin TV movie entertaining. There's some fun moments that engage the viewer in laughter, which makes the film most watchable in spite of the fact that the story has been told many time over before.Kerwin and the actors playing the kids do admirable jobs, but it's Dolly's show all the way. She doesn't overkill the niceness. Roddy McDowall is amusing in a dual role. Some of the how to get to heaven theories might upset some people of set beliefs, but like "Heaven Can Wait", "Defending Your Life" and "What Dreams May Come", it's simply a message of hope.

Rebounding from her first foray into seasonal TV-movie fare (the forgettable "Smoky Mountain Christmas" from 1986), Dolly Parton tries again with this holiday-themed, sentimental confection...and does a very commendable job. A down-on-her-luck singer named Ruby Diamond (!) gets herself into a fatal car wreck and is later turned away from Heaven by St. Peter until she earns her wings on Earth by bringing a dysfunctional family together (under the guise of a cleavage-baring nanny). The brood consists of a widower father (the eternally-constipated Brian Kerwin), his snotty teenage daughter and alienated young son (who joins Dolly in a piano-and-guitar duet on "Jingle Bells"!). Dolly doesn't have to work hard at this role--the writers have already supplied Ruby with an angelic disposition that is hard to humbug, a background in country music, and childhood memories that just reek of smoky mountain holidays in Tennessee. Director Michael Switzer keeps Dolly feisty and funny throughout, and her rapport with saint Roddy McDowall is sweet, but the movie isn't very enticing on an emotional level. The kids merit little interest, the relationships between the adults is occasionally unclear, and small details such as where Dolly hangs up her fabulous wardrobe remain sketchy at best.

i wanted to see this first movie when it came on lifetime but i was really to busy to see it.i mean i'm 12 years old and i like this movie.i mean it's a real family tradition movie this is my third favorite dolly parton movie of course number 2 being 9 to 5 and my first being stragiht talk but i mean this movie it isn't like the other dolly parton movies.i really liked this movie and i would recommand it to dollly parton fans.