Next up is 2011’s The Heart of Christmas, an unashamed, full-on tearjerker. This one from director Gary Wheeler follows the story of a family's 18-month long struggle after their little boy is diagnosed with leukaemia. It's a tough thing to watch at the best of times but even harder to handle when you've got a child of your own and another on the way. Candace Cameron Bure is back again with star-billing though her character Megan's story really just bookends the tale of the unfortunate but spirited Locke family.
Here, Megan's life is transformed on Halloween when she sees a house being decorated by loads of her neighbours with Christmas decorations. When she stops someone to ask what's up, she's told somewhat mysteriously, to "check out Julie's blog".
And so Megan and the audience discover the harrowing but inspirational true tale of the Lockes and their son Dax (Christopher Shone)'s devastating diagnosis. It’s a heavy-handed film with ropey acting and dialogue but I find it refreshing for a holiday film to be so upfront about how unforgiving this disease can be. There's no sugarcoating things here - it's established early on that the family have shifted Christmas to October as Dax won't make it to December. Sob...
There's a strong emphasis on prayer but the film never seems bogged down by its themes of faith and Christianity. Let's be honest - most people in this situation would turn to God, to anything to grab a few more precious moments with their kid. So, it's a film about hoping for miracles and here that miracle is not something impossible, just something with really shitty odds. It's also all about how hard it can be to keep faith when something like this happens, until that faith is all you've got left.
It's moving but let down by a godawful, droning, overly-earnest Christian rock score with bleak lyrics about kids not seeing the end of the year and such.
The film's touching, though I weirdly don't find myself blubbing half as much as expected. Maybe it's because the kid playing Dax doesn't really do or say much and never at any point actually seems ill. Still, I appreciate the film's sentiment. It's not a film so much about Christmas as it is about the importance of the season to families and young children. It's about pausing for thought and appreciating the here and now. That's what Christmas is all about, surely. Now excuse me while I go and give my daughter a hug.
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