Noel

Noel

58% Liked It
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Noel

Penelope Cruz, Susan Sarandon, Paul Walker, Alan Arkin, Robin Williams

A contemporary romantic drama borrowing inspiration from It's a Wonderful Life, this thought-provoking holiday film explores the lives of five strangers as they intersect at a crossroads of for...( read more  read more... )giveness and redemption. In his directorial debut, Chazz Palminteri lends a delicate hand to allow his talent-laden cast creative latitude to portray a handful of odd bedfellows who share little in common but loneliness on Christmas Eve. Susan Sarandon is remarkable as Rose Harrison, a divorced book editor who spends the holidays at a nursing home with her mother deep in the clutches of Alzheimer's. Although Rose's own story bleeds pathos, she shows genuine compassion toward others—whether it's the abandoned, mysterious patient across the hall, or the desperate fiancée, Nina (Penélope Cruz) who broke her engagement to her beloved Mike (Paul Walker) because of his suffocating jealousy. In separate subplots soon to collide, a strange bartender (Alan Arkin) divulges how his past was forever altered by someone he thinks is Mike, while another Alzheimer's visitor, Charlie Boyd (Robin Williams, uncredited) helps Rose accept the possibility of miracles in an uplifting climatic twist. Though some of the storylines inch toward the improbable, the film manages to veer just to the right of maudlin. Instead, it arrives as a heartwarming, life-affirming tale that tugs at the heartstrings (with a haunting musical score by the famed Alan Menken). Grab some 'nog and a hanky. (Rated PG for sensuality, language, and some intense thematic material) --Lynn Gibson

Id: 10894041

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Recent Reviews


  • August 8, 2007
    OK, I'm a sucker for this sort of intertwined film where you need watch the whole movie to figure out which boyfriend happens to be the son of the strange bartender, etc. and how everyone survives Christmas Day.
  • May 31, 2007
    A good movie!
  • December 9, 2009
    I neither loved nor hated this film; I'm quite impartial to it; it entertained but still not really sure on what level; it didn't provoke much thought from me; was a bit too sentimentel; sometimes a little too over acted and played out like a midday movie - judging it on the meri...( read more)ts of a midday movie; it was one of the better ones; a film to provoke the christmas spirit? No.
  • December 7, 2009
    it had a more sader feel to this film than most christmas movies but then i think it was aimed at the older person. it dealt with the reality of 2 days during christmas and peoples worries and problems. i enjoyed it but it will not be for everybody
  • December 6, 2009
    it wasok... it was 1 of dose films were deres a message in everythin dat was done...it shows dat ppls actions ave consequences on others... nd also dat it is nice 2 b nice... but as a hole... not really a great watch...
  • November 29, 2009
    very good movie...would watch agian
  • August 2, 2009
    Much better than I expected. Great acting.
  • May 19, 2009
    I thought the ending bit different. But other wise great.
  • February 11, 2009
    it was so sweet, made me cry..
    it's weird, but i liked seeing Paul Walker cry.. I love his eyes, they're so clear blue, and when those teardrops fell off his cheek.. well, it also made me cry. it was beautiful to see how much he cared about Artie.
    But a star off 'cuz of too hap...( read more)py ending anyway(just not a big fan of them).
    Actors were all great!
    Definitely worth watching.
  • January 3, 2009
    it's....also.....ok....it's about love? make people not lonely any more?no more specific feelings...

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