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Noel (2004)
Runtime: 1 hr 42 mins
Synopsis: A first-rate cast comes together for this collection of intertwining tales of lonely New Yorkers reaching out to each other on Christmas Eve. Susan Sarandon plays Rose, a widowed editor who spends way too much time at the hospital bed of her Alzheimers-stricken mother. Robin Williams is the... A first-rate cast comes together for this collection of intertwining tales of lonely New Yorkers reaching out to each other on Christmas Eve. Susan Sarandon plays Rose, a widowed editor who spends way too much time at the hospital bed of her Alzheimers-stricken mother. Robin Williams is the mysterious fellow who later prevents her from possibly jumping in the East River. Meanwhile Nina (Penelope Cruz) gets tired of the violently jealous outbreaks of her cop boyfriend, Mike (Paul Walker), and breaks their engagement. An obsessive old waiter (Alan Arkin) is convinced Mike is the reincarnation of his dead wife, while in another story a troubled young man (Marcus Thomas) attempts to smash up his hand so he can attend an emergency room Christmas party. Needless to say, these tales intersect movingly and the miracle of Christmas provides major healing to each character involved. Sarandon is a stand-out among the many fine performances here, Cruz is beautiful as always, but the real jaw-dropping surprise is Paul Walker. Famous as the dopey "white guy" in those FAST AND THE FURIOUS films, Walker reveals great depths of tortured feeling as the cop struggling to save his future family. Actor Chazz Palminteri (A BRONX TALE) directed this, his first feature film. Though set in New York, it was filmed in Montreal, so no, it's not a Christmas miracle that the city looks so nice and clean. Alan Menken (Disney's THE LITTLE MERMAID) provides the score. [More]
Genre: Dramas
Starring: Penélope Cruz, Susan Sarandon, Alan Arkin, Paul Walker, Marcus Thomas
Screenwriter: David Hubbard
Producer: Howard Rosenman, Al Corley, Bart Rosenblatt, Eugene Musso
Composer: Alan Menken
DVD Info
Release:
Jan 10, 2007
DVD Features:
- Region 1
- Snap Case
- Anamorphic Widescreen - 1.78
- Single Sided
Audio:
- Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound - English
Additional Release Material:
- Audio Commentary - Director's Commentary
- Featurette - Behind The Scenes
- Interviews - Cast & Crew
Text/Photo Galleries:
- Biographies - Cast Bios
Reviews
A film about folks celebrating Christmas together is about as interesting and carries as much dramatic thrust as the 1989 Christmas reunion video immortalized on Uncle Fred's camcorder.
The sentiments are right on the money, but the execution never quite filled me with holiday cheer.
There's nothing at all surprising about Noel, except for the fact that it was ever made.
If you are looking for a Christmas film that is unconventional, that has a lot of heart without wallowing in sentimentality, this is a good bet.
A holiday gift wrapped in sadness -- but tied tenderly with hope.
Three tear-jerking stories about faith, love and the redemptive spiritual power of a frosty Christmas Eve
Fits snugly into the ‘Christmas movie’ canon by tapping into familiar problems, tugging at the heartstrings and stirring your tired soul.
One of those unpleasant fiascoes meant to lodge a lump in the throat at Christmas, but it only ends up making you want to bludgeon the elves with their own toy-shop hammers.
Noel delivers two astonishing scenes of love and forgiveness that will take your breath away and are perfectly in tune with the miraculous nature of Christmas.
I can think of 59,054,087 people who are intellectually deprived enough to buy into “Noel.”
The kind of sappy, sadness-turns- to-gladness holiday movie that shows up on cable TV this time of year.
The all-star cast do their best, but the individual stories are so truncated that they can't do much in the way of giving their characters real emotional depth.
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