Expect Some Magic In ‘Christmas Box’
Merry Christmas.
This is the night when many people reflect on what’s truly important in life. Unfortunately, Christmas has turned into a chaotic, high-pressure holiday.
Take for example Richard Paul Evans, the central character in CBS’ 1995 “The Christmas Box” at 9.
Evans (Richard Thomas), co-owner of a ski shop, spends endless hours attempting to turn his business into a moneymaker. To cut costs, he, his wife Keri (Annette O’Toole), and daughter Jenna (Kelsey Mulrooney) move into an apartment in a mansion inhabited by an elderly widow, Mrs. Mary Parkin (Maureen O’Hara).
Evans can’t stand Mrs. Parkin, who treats him with icy disdain. Soon he begins to experience a recurring dream of a beautiful little girl dressed in white and bathed in bright light.
The mystery unfolds a little too slowly, because Richard should quickly make the connection between his angelic vision and the letters he discovers in Mrs. Parkin’s ornate Christmas box stored in the attic. You’ll be ahead of the story but not uncertain where it will end.
Thomas displays enough arrogance to make the character imperfect, but he spares the excess that could turn Evans into a clown. O’Hara is marvelous as the dreary dowager who comes around as she makes friends with young Jenna.
The movie’s success isn’t so much the unraveling of the mystery as it is the stripping away of Mrs. Parkin’s protective veneer. O’Hara reminds us what a grand star she was and is in a memorable performance.
“The Christmas Box,” adapted from Richard Paul Evans’ short novel, is a timeless story about giving and receiving and should make great family viewing.
Parents should know that it deals poignantly with death and dying. Still, it is able to reduce Christmas to its simplest meaning and throw in a little magic to guide the way.
Highlights
“Basketball,” NBC at 3: An NBA holiday doubleheader (pity the poor millionaire hoopsters who have to work on Christmas day) features the Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix Suns followed by the Chicago Bulls and Detroit Pistons.
“Hero” (1992), FOX at 8: Dustin Hoffman, Andy Garcia and Geena Davis are mismatched in this tale of a con man (Hoffman) who performs an act of heroism, only to have someone else take the credit.
“The Nanny,” CBS at 8: In an entertaining repeat, Fran (Fran Drescher) is swept away by a cantor (Philip Casnoff), who leaves his temple to take a role in one of Maxwell’s plays.
The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = John Martin New York Times Syndicate