I grew up watching this as a kid, and I never realized how maturely themed this movie was until I watched it again recently. Wow. It's quite heavy for a Christmas movie, to the point of being depressing. A poor family living on food stamps. She gets fired from her job. Husband gets shot and killed. Kids get kidnapped as the bank robber drives away in their car while the kids are in it and drives it off crashes it off a bridge. Kids almost drown. Despite this, I think it has one of the best scenes at the North Pole of any movie. Their Santa Claus is one of my favourites and feels timeless. He looks like the kind that could actually exist, like a grandfather to everyone.
It kind of plays itself out as a modern day version of It's a Wonderful Life. The angel though it never bothered me as a kid, is actually kind of creepy now when you think about it. He said he tried to save a kid's life and drowned, but looking at the angel makes me feel like he's an ex-con who tried to redeem himself by saving a life and drowning himself in the process, and it kind of fits the story.
It kind of plays itself out as a modern day version of It's a Wonderful Life. The angel though it never bothered me as a kid, is actually kind of creepy now when you think about it. He said he tried to save a kid's life and drowned, but looking at the angel makes me feel like he's an ex-con who tried to redeem himself by saving a life and drowning himself in the process, and it kind of fits the story.
