Thoughts on One Magic Christmas

 

via IMDB

"If anyone says another thing about Christmas to me, I'm gonna throw something at them and I mean it!"

Once upon the 1980s, there was a movie that evocatively and succinctly told the story of a family in dire straits at Christmas. That movie was Gremlins. Ginny Grainger (Mary Steenburgen), the heroine of One Magic Christmas, doesn't face little lethal creatures. It's one of a precious few lucky breaks.

Harken, readers, for it's time once again for me to do a straight recap. Everybody's going to want to hear just how extreme and maudlin things get. A grocery clerk, Ginny is married to Jack (Gary Basaraba), who's been out of work for about six months. Jack is the kind of guy who'd devote his energy to making sure neighbor kids have presents and lighting the town Christmas tree when there's no funding for it. He wants to use his and Ginny's last $5,000 to open a bike shop, an idea she has no enthusiasm for. The family, including children Abbie (Elisabeth Harnois) and Cal (Robbie Magwood), are being evicted from their company-owned home by Mr. Crump (Graham Jarvis, surprisingly a one scene wonder). 

The Graingers aren't the only ones in their community going through hard times. Through her job, Ginny encounters people like a woman using food stamps for the first time, as well as cranky Harry Dickens (Wayne Robson), who turns out to be especially desperate. There's also the matter that she's working in the service industry, which even on a good day, doesn't offer much opportunities for bliss. Ginny, whose late father managed a Ramada, has been spending more time thinking about unfulfilled lives and less time being acceptably happy. She doesn't even say "Merry Christmas." Gideon the angel (Harry Dean Stanton) is dispatched by Santa (Jan Rubeš) himself to snap Ginny out of her funk.

Researching OMC, I found a lot of scoffing toward Stanton's casting. It's true, he isn't the first person I'd think of to play an angel. Then again, Clint Eastwood got his chance earlier in 1985, so let's think outside the box, people. Stanton was a replacement for Richard Farnsworth, which makes me wonder if the filmmakers considered having Gideon turn out to be Santa himself. It would be more interesting than Gideon's role in the finished movie. He's already an angel and spends only so much time with Ginny, so we don't have the stakes or relationship building that comes in movies like It's a Wonderful Life (which OMC owes a considerable debt to) or The Bishop's/Preacher's/Rabbi's/Pontiff's Wife.

Ready for what's made OMC infamous, not only among holiday movies but pre-renaissance Disney flicks? Ginny, who watched as all the colored lights went out on her street shortly after an argument with Jack on or about Dec. 23, has to work a double shift on Christmas Eve. She ends up fired anyway, because Abbie comes into the store while Jack's taking out the family's savings. The bank is held up by Harry Dickens, who not only fatally shoots Jack, but steals his car with the kids in it before embarking on a high-speed chase that ends with a fatal plunge off a bridge. Roger Ebert thought the filmmakers overdid it with the relentless, not all that common misfortune. I agree, but admit that it kept my interest.

"Sometimes bad things happen, real bad things."

"And sometimes good things happen, right, Mom?"

"Right. But this is about a bad thing, that happened to your dad."

"What bad thing, Mom?"

Director Philip Borsos shared story credit with Barry Healey and Thomas Meehan, who's credited for the script. The mood in OMC is set quickly, but it doesn't stop Borsos and company from continuing to hit the same note. Speaking of repetition, I'm glad Steenburgen was cast as Ginny. Right about the time that Jack and the kids were killed off, I began imagining if the role was played by the then-queen of moms who just cannot take it, Melinda Dillon. She's a fine actress, but you can just hear the squealing, can't you? Anyway, now back to our regularly scheduled recap. 

Gideon saved Abbie and Cal from the water. As Gideon told Abbie earlier, he became an angel when he died after rescuing a drowning boy. Gideon's got the power to fix broken things, like an heirloom snow globe, but he can't bring back Jack. Only Santa Claus can do that (!). You see, Santa's Workshop isn't staffed by elves, but by dead people (how Beetlejuice!). Gideon takes Abbie, who ran to the local Christmas tree to find him, to the North Pole. Oddly enough, she has to visit Santa on her own. Like, seriously, I'm not sure why they didn't want to have Gideon actually share a scene with Santa. Anyway, Santa also says no can do, but he gives Abbie a letter Ginny wrote to him when she was a girl. Meanwhile, Ginny has lost Abbie twice in one day. 

Throughout the movie, Ginny has been blowing off mailing Abbie's letter to Santa. After putting the girl to bed, Ginny finds the vintage letter. Why, it's even got the Ramada letterhead! All snark aside, this is actually a really touching scene. There's a reason why Steenburgen has an Oscar. Ginny decides to mail the letter and ... it's Dec. 23 or thereabouts again. The lights are back and so is Jack. Apparently having been reminded of the importance of her family and looking out for others, Ginny lays down the law with her boss (and gets to keep her job), gives Harry $50 (so he and his son at least aren't starving on Christmas; I have no idea where she got that money from) and finally supports the bike shop idea. She's rewarded by getting to see Santa. Aww ...

"Merry Christmas, Ginny." "Merry Christmas."

Recommended with reservations.

Thoughts:
-- "She's still the prettiest girl in the whole world, isn't she kids?" "Nah, she's just mom."
-- Box Office: Grossing nearly $13.7 million, this had a budget of $7.5 million, down from an original budget of $9-$10 million. Disney chipped in two-thirds of the $7.5 million, while Telefilm Canada's Broadcast Fund contributed the rest. Anyway, this opened at No. 2, fell out of the top five after Thanksgiving and came in at No. 63 for 1985.
-- Critic's Corner: "The first film I've ever seen that makes me think that the white-bearded reindeer lover was an out-and-out sadist," David Denby wrote. Steenburgen was praised by Janet Maslin, who observed how well seamlessly she played all types of emotions. "She seems as genuine in her final joyfulness as she does in her initial despair." Ebert had mixed feelings about Stanton. "He is sad-faced and tender, all right, but he looks just like the kind of guy that our parents told us never to talk to."

-- Awards Watch: Nominated for six Genies, including for Best Motion Picture and Steenburgen, this won for its sound and sound editing. Harnois and the movie were also Young Artist Awards nominees.
-- Hey, it's ...!: Arthur Hill as Jack's grandpa. Michelle Meyrink and Elias Kosteas as family friends. Sarah Polley as Molly, Abbie's friend, daughter of Mrs. Food Stamps and recipient of one of Jack's bikes.

-- Hey, it's the mid-'80s!: Seeing Santa at the mall costs $4.50. I have to question the idea of Ginny and Jack taking their kids past things and experiences they can't have when they're apparently there to get "socks and stuff" Oh, yeah, that's a real Saturday afternoon with the family kinda experience. Also, Abbie has a Gremlins shirt and I think John McEnroe is on the Kodak display at Ginny's store.

-- Memorable Music: No points, but I did smile at Ginny briefly singing along to "Stop! In the Name of Love" in the shower before the kids -- and Molly -- have to use the bathroom. A washcloth drops, which ends up causing the tub to fill and overflow. Later, just before the Christmas lights go out, Ginny sings a bit of "Lost in the Stars" to Jack, as it reminds her of him.

-- "You know something, honey? If you came on this little walk here to cheer me up, you're doing a lousy job."
-- Next: Santa Claus: The Movie. On deck: Spies Like Us and Young Sherlock Holmes. Coming soon: Clue and The Jewel of the Nile.