Midnight Clear

Random Acts of Kindness: A Little Christmas Story
MIDNIGHT CLEAR is an easily overlooked film: the cover of the DVD is bleak, the description of the story sounds a bit corny, and the promotion of the film has been scant. But what is not expected for those viewers able to overcome the above negative aspects is a well-made little series of interlocking vignettes that poignantly address the impact of random acts of kindness in a world grown calloused. It is touching in the best sense of the word and well worth watching even beyond the Christmas season.

The unnamed town gradually opens windows to some fairly sad people: an elderly woman Eva (K Callan) talks with her doctor on the telephone about her meds and we note that she may be facing the thought of suicide in her desolate life; a sweet woman Mary (Mary Thornton) and her young son Jacob (Dominic Scott Kay) visit their brain damaged husband/father in a rest home (the man was critically injured in an auto accident one year ago); a lonely many Kirk (Kirk B.R. Woller) stands...

Best Christmas movie in years!!!
By far the best Christmas movie I have seen in years and one of the best movies I have seen in a long time! I wish they made more movies like this!

Simply told, and beautifully understated. A wonderfully told tale about five strangers whose paths cross one Christmas Eve and impact one another's lives in sometimes simple, yet rather astounding ways.

Not your usual Hollywood-type Christmas film where everyone is smiling and a happy ending can be found around every corner. No, this film is about real people, with real problems, in the real world, where things don't always necessarily end happily ever after. And, during the course of the film, we're never quite sure just what the outcome is going to be.

Honest, sincere, real, totally believeable. I could readily and easily identify with each and every character. The performances are top-notch and are played to perfection. Every performance comes across as being completely genuine.

I love...

Midnight Clear
"Midnight Clear" was directed by Dallas Jenkins, son of Jerry B Jenkins, who also produced and wrote the story the film is based on. I'm not a fan of Jenkins Sr and expected a rather preachy Christian film. I was wrong, almost.

Stephen Baldwin gives a suprisingly good performance as divorced, unemployed and homless Lefty, and K Callan is even better as the lonely widow Eve. The rest of the cast is a mixed bunch. The story is about loneliness and kindness and some scenes are very good, others weaker. The ending, while optimistic, is especially weak. It didn't feel true to the rest of the movie and this keeps me from giving it a higher rating. Not all problems are solved by going to church.

Overall, this is a pretty good movie, certainly much better than I expected. It's a rare example of a Christian themed movie that is not preachy and can be enjoyed by both Christian and non-Christians.

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