My original review: This movie has elements in common with a few other Christmas movies revolving around a rivalry and a romance, but it goes deeper than the others I can think of. I'm glad to see the writers didn't try to check off every possible Christmas tradition to fill screen time, but instead stayed focused on the issues related to the theme of the movie.
This movie makes it clear fairly quickly that the "villain" is anything but and that she too is a person in need. At the same time it deals with bullying of a new student, although it doesn't offer any overly simplistic solutions.
Like so many Christmas movies, it wraps up too many things a little too neatly, and uses an unbelievably courageous teen to help it along, but what else would we expect? Still it is an UPlifting movie with excellent family values.
Addendum added about 18 months later: I just watched a movie that gave me an aha moment regarding bullying. It made me think back to this one and I had to watch it again, I realize it does offer one possibility as a defense for bullying. The girl's defense is her very deep rooted belief in who she is and her values. This allows her to not only say no to despair, but to go beyond what society expects to love her neighbor even when that neighbor was acting like an enemy. And she couldn't have done that without loving support of her mother and some faithful friends.
The actions of Charlotte display the true meaning of Christmas that goes closer to the real reason for the season than almost any TV dares to go now a days. It's more than just being with family. It IS about new beginnings and a kind of new birth that come from forgiveness that was made possible by the one whom we celebrate. Joy to the World.
