Yet more made for TV stuff next with The Christmas Tree from 1996, directed by Sally Field of Smokey and the Bandit fame. Andrew McCarthy stars as Richard, a landscape architect who's given the novel task of finding the largest, most triumphant fir tree for New York's Rockefeller Centre in time for Christmas. He happens upon what appears to be the perfect candidate on the grounds of a remote convent, so lands his flashy helicopter and swaggers in to try and convince the nuns to let him take it. I fully expect Richard to be the stuffy big city business guy who ends up being seduced by the sisters' quiet, simple life and so on, but it really doesn't go that way at all.
Richard does strike up an unlikely friendship with Sister Anthony (Julie Harris) who has a historic, spiritual bond with the tree. The film ends up being more about Sister Anthony recounting her life story to Rich, with many flashbacks illustrating how this big old plant became so important to the adorable holy woman. There are also weird hints that this could be a magic tree when it seems to cure Richard's cold.
So, it's a quiet, gentle tale about two very different people bonding over many months through old stories, learning from each other and coming to terms with what's been missing from their lives. This is all perfectly pleasant but, unfortunately, rather dull.
For a film ostensibly about a Christmas tree it's curiously not very Christmassy. Yes, it all culminates at Rockefeller at the lighting of the gargantuan tree but it sure is a long time in getting there. The tale starts a full nine months before yuletide, with Rich periodically checking in on the good sister because he finds her fascinating for some reason.
For me, this one is boring as, crucially, it's a film with no clear villains. Nobody is trying to force the nuns to chop this tree down, there's no big bad corporation trying to force Richard to tear down the convent to put in a strip club or anything. It's just a small story about making peace with sometimes having to say goodbye to the things and people we love.
The stakes never feel high and a happy ending is never in doubt. Harris and McCarthy give excellent, tender performances but there isn’t much to it. The flashbacks aren't terribly moving and one final supposedly startling revelation just leaves me shrugging.
Still, the climax in NYC is atmospheric and lovely, finally delivering on the festive promise of the film's title. It's free on Youtube, so I guess if you like nuns and you like trees this could be right up your street.
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