Review of The Christmas List

Ever since we stumbled onto it in 1997 during FoxFamilyChannel's 25 Days of Christmas programming, my husband and I have made it a point to catch this one every year when it airs. It makes a nice break in the shopping/decorating/music rehearsal/baking/working routine that rolls around in December. David is played by the guy who had the lead role in "Sweating Bullets" from the old CBS Crime Time after Prime Time shows from the early 90s. He looks so completely different here--his ponytail and funky beach duds are nowhere to be found--but oh, my, he's still a hunk. Just a more respectable one:) Mimi Rogers (known to many as the first Mrs. Tom Cruise) does a great job as the 30-something perfume salesperson who wants a shop of her own, and to move ahead with her life. She has potential but a lot of trouble showing it. Mimi is one of the few Hollywood actresses who can actually look really mousy and drab or drop-dead glamorous with just a few touches here and there. Marla Maples has a supporting role here, too, as an obviously wealthy, high-maintenance woman who's set her sights on marrying a doctor. I'll be honest here--she IS a very pretty woman and actually has a voice that sounds like it was honed to perfectly modulated tones in one of those old Southern charm schools. The guy who plays George (he of the "5-year plan") has the most thankless of the lead roles, but he does a good enough job with it that I have to laugh when he keeps getting his come-uppance at Melody's hands.

Why do Melody's wishes come true? We don't know. What we DO know is that whether it's luck, Santa Claus, or the natural laws of the universe, she learns in the space of a few days to capitalize on opportunity--which is, after all, the place where preparation and luck meet.

The ending is sweet and sentimental--what Christmas should be for everyone!

We have this one on tape, but if it's ever released for sale, I would definitely buy it to put in the cabinet beside "Charlie Brown Christmas" and "Rudolf."