The Christmas Hope Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

The Christmas Hope Blu-ray Movie Review

Life and love: the gifts that keep on giving.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman December 18, 2014

'Tis the season, but Christmastime is not -- and should not be -- the only few weeks out of the year when love, joy, understanding, compassion, generosity, and yes, hope, make an appearance. The Christmas Hope is itself set in the time around December 25th, but its core principles and story themes run much deeper than a date on a calendar, the arrival of a tree, the wrapping of a gift, the singing of a song. They transcend the season and lift up humanity to show it at its best, a best where things aren't perfect -- far from it -- but where imperfect people in an imperfect world refocus and come to understand that life is bigger than their bubble, and that sometimes, even, their own bubble is itself larger, and more densely populated, than they would have ever believed. They come to realize that their little corner of the world is filled with people living otherwise separate lives who have been, or will be, touched by and benefited from the lasting impact of a long ago or yet-to-come word, smile, or moment of understanding, generosity, or sudden realization of hope. The film tells a core story that's shaped by and through several interconnecting subplots that come together to reunite a family and, in the process, create a new one. It's a touching, heartfelt picture that may very well have even the most emotionally unflappable viewers melting in its tenderness and the depicted togetherness of humanity.

Do you see what she sees?

Young Traci (Devon Weigel), a single mother and aspiring singer/songwriter struggling to make ends meet, works at a diner and does her best to raise her daughter Emily (Tori Barban) the right way, celebrating Christmas together and living as happy a life as they can. When Traci is suddenly killed in a traffic accident in the days leading up to Christmas, Emily is left with no home. She's temporarily taken in by a social worker named Patricia (Madeleine Stowe) who largely lives alone, rarely seeing her estranged husband, a pilot named Mark (James Remar). The couple has grown distant since the death of their teenage son two years ago. Emily's arrival renews Mark and could either rekindle a lost love or pull it further apart. Meanwhile, a young doctor named Nathan (Ian Ziering) and his pregnant wife Megan (Rebecca Gibson) work to reunite a lost gift with its rightful recipient.

The Christmas Hope centers on themes revolving around loss and gain, about the ebbs and flows of life, and about how life -- even at its darkest lows -- can shine its brightest lights in the most unexpected of places and in the most unexpected of ways. The story is simple on the surface -- even as it involves a number of characters undergoing a number of individual and connected transformations -- but its depth lies in the goodness of its themes. In short, it espouses the value of life, never giving up, spreading joy, and finding purpose even when it seems like purpose has been swept away. It's about maintaining hope, pursuing a worthy cause, and doing what's right, not what's easy or convenient. All of the characters in some way espouse and/or demonstrate some or all of these qualities. The movie is certainly a classic tearjerker but it will leave audiences nevertheless emotionally satisfied and reinvigorated, determined to refocus their attention on the good things in life and look for a way to make someone else's a little bit brighter, too.

Critics will say that the movie is all one big manufactured contrivance, and in actuality it is. That may hurt other films, but The Christmas Hope is the exception to the rule. Because it's a movie of message and not so much a movie of entertainment, it can get away with manipulating things to work in its favor, in the easiest way possible so as to best spread its message. Movies like this aren't made with absolute creativity or novelty as the driving forces but rather the way it positively benefits its audience. Certainly more dry ideas like profit and viewership and, yes, even artistic merit are not brushed aside -- the movie is well made and strongly acted all around -- but that all takes a back seat to the core dramatic content and the emotional connection the movie hopes to make with its viewing audience and, the movie seems to hope, the same connection the audience can make with others who can benefit from the shared simple teachings and demonstration of how life's best can emerge even from its worst.

The Christmas Hope Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Christmas Hope features a 1080p transfer that's more in-line with a modern movie of the week rather than a huge budget production, of course because it pretty much is a movie of the week and not a big-dollar studio showcase. As such, it presents a healthy bit of clarity and adequate detail presentation but not enough to turn heads. Faces and clothes are never intricately complex, but it does well enough to reveal individual twigs and Christmas tree ornaments even at medium distance. Colors are a bit warm, with faces often pushing red, but there's a healthy, but not necessarily vibrant, array of colors on a multicolored winter cap and a bright yellow dress shirt. Black levels aren't precise but rarely stray too far towards paleness. There is a hint of background banding at times as well as a steady flow of light noise, but otherwise it's never too overly problematic. In short, this is a fair presentation, persistently flat but adequate for a lower budget film. It's certainly not one to yank off the shelf for pure demo material.

The Christmas Hope Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Christmas Hope features a stock Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. Little is asked of it, and little is produced. There are some good instances of wider spacing and imaging, notable early on when a baby cries off to the side and back, but this generally a fairly straightforward, up-the-middle listen with other examples of light atmospherics tossed in, such as clanking silverware at a diner. Music is a little shallow, decidedly not aggressive but featuring baseline clarity throughout the range. Dialogue dominates the film, and the spoken word plays neatly and evenly from the center.

The Christmas Hope Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of The Christmas Hope contains no supplemental content. A DVD copy of the film is included with purchase of the Blu-ray.

The Christmas Hope Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Christmas Hope is a wonderful little film, a touching tribute to all of life's blessings that always seem to have a way of coming around when the worst appears to have all but eroded the last little bits of hope. It's optimistic about humanity, encapsulated in a small town where significant pain is eased by a deluge of good grace and better neighbors who open their hearts when they're needed the most. This Blu-ray release of The Christmas Hope features decent video, adequate audio, and no supplements. Fans of this style of film should jump on a buy at a low price.