Christmas Child (2003)

Christmas Child is a made-for-TV-style movie that tells its story a bit stiffly but heartwarmingly just the same. William R. Moses (who looks a bit like Anthony Michael Hall of the TV series The Dead Zone) is a Chicago magazine journalist who decides to pursue his adoptive roots after finding a photo of a church in Clearwater, Texas, in his father's effects. He meets the church's young pastor (Steven Curtis Chapman), who looks so much like him that I kept wondering what was up with that. (Nothing.) Through alternately cryptic or helpful encounters with various townsfolk, the story develops organically and with plenty of puzzling pieces that eventually get tied together in a surprise ending. The last five minutes ride on a wave of sentimentality that seems sudden and simplistic (given the inability of most characters to emote) but this is essentially a feel-good Christmas tale about finding one's roots as well as joy amidst loss. I enjoyed it and felt as if I'd gotten to know the townsfolk better than in most movies. The soundtrack is Christmas-y and well done from beginning to end. The Christmas message is mentioned with subtlety so any cultural Christian ought to enjoy the show, but churchgoing families esp. may enjoy watching Christmas Child every holiday season. Blockbuster stocks this disc but Netflix does not. 3.5 stars.