Don’t Let The Title Fool You
One Magic Christmas is one tough movie to watch. Despite having a title that conjures up visions of sugar plums dancing in your head, this 1985 G-rated Christmas film offers up unemployment, robbery, murder, holiday depression, a fatal car chase, and the threat of homelessness. Sounds really magical, right?
Well, don’t let those things deter you from seeing this film. Skillfully directed by Philip Borsos (The Grey Fox, The Mean Season) and featuring a cast of strong character actors, One Magic Christmas might be rather depressing, but the payoff at the end is well worth it. It basically gives you a worst-case scenario and turns it on its head with a little Christmas spirit.
The film focuses on the Grainger family. The father, Jack (Gary Basaraba), has recently lost his job. The family home happens to be owned by the company that Jack used to work for and he and his family now have to move out by January 1st. This puts a ton of pressure on his wife, Ginny (Mary Steenburgen), who has lost all hope not only for her family, but in Christmas as well. Cynicism has its hooks deep in her soul and she struggles to give her children, Abbie (Elisabeth Harnois) and Cal (Robbie Magwood), a reasonably decent Christmas while her husband remains the optimist in the family, believing that things will work out in the end.
When things look like they can’t get any worse, an angel named Gideon (Harry Dean Stanton) arrives on the scene to warn little Abbie Grainger that things actually will become worse, but to not be afraid. In just a matter of minutes, Ginny loses her job, Jack is murdered by a desperate man robbing a bank, and Abbie and Cal are driven off of a bridge to their sure deaths by the robber when he steals their car to escape the police.
Then something magical happens.
After these terrible events and with the threat of being homeless looming, Ginny has pretty much given up all hope. Honestly, though, who can blame her? She literally loses her husband, her kids, and her job in one chaotic moment. Her Christmas spirit is completely wiped out. Miraculously, the children are found alive and brought home to Ginny. Happy to have her kids back, Ginny is still crushed by the loss of her husband and all of the other problems that have piled up on the family over the year.
That evening, Gideon takes Abbie to meet the big man himself, Santa Claus (Jan Rubes). Abbie hoped that Gideon, being an angel, could bring her father back to life, but Gideon said that the only person powerful enough to do such a thing would be Santa. Unfortunately for Abbie, Santa can’t bring her father back, but he does give her something that he believes will restore her mother’s Christmas spirit. You’ll have to see the film to find out what happens next, but rest assured that the ending is a whole lot happier than the rest of the film.
This film is very depressing, especially if you have experienced any of the hardships or losses that the Grainger family face in the film. I actually cried a couple of times because there were things that some of the characters go through that I’ve suffered myself. The film’s cinematography adds to the highs and lows of the plot and the pacing is artistically brutal. While watching the film you want things to get better, but they only get exponentially worse. Once the movie takes you to the brink, it brings everything back to a reasonably happy ending.
Borsos does a fine job of directing the film, but his cast is what makes this film worth watching. Mary Steenburgen (Back To The Future III, Elf, The Help) carries the film as Ginny Grainger. Steenburgen was already an established actress (she won an Academy Award For Best Supporting Actress in 1980) by the time that she appeared in One Magic Christmas, but her career continued to blossom and has included multiple award-winning performances since being in that film. Harry Dean Stanton, a prolific character actor who has appeared in films such as Alien, The Green Mile, Cool Hand Luke, and Pretty In Pink, is creepy at first as Gideon, but eventually warms up to the viewer as his true intentions are made known. Steenburgen might carry the film, but the weight is lifted off of her shoulders just a bit by a young Elisabeth Harnois as Abbie. Harnois would go on to appear in a string of children’s films and television shows including Adventures in Wonderland and My Date With The President’s Daughter, make supporting appearances in shows such as Highway To Heaven and Charmed, take on lead roles in successful series like CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, and star in a number of Christmas romance films. She was nominated for a Young Artist Award for her performance in One Magic Christmas. Also keep an eye out for Sarah Polley (The Weight of Water, Go, Splice) and Elias Koteas (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Prophecy, Shutter Island), who have bit parts in the movie but would eventually go on to become stars in their own right.
One Magic Christmas is a tough film to watch. Despite this fact, I highly recommend it. Parents with younger children might want to preview the film before letting their kids see it, as it deals with some major issues. It won’t be on the Hallmark Channel any time soon, but it’s a powerful film that shouldn’t be missed. As of this writing, I do believe that it is available on Disney+. I have it on DVD.
Thanks for reading. I’ll be reviewing Krampus (2015) later this week and plan on reviewing at least one more film this weekend before releasing my final review of the Christmas season on Christmas Eve.
Ken's Alternate Universe! 