Product Description

In this heartwarming holiday drama, a workaholic attorney (Rob Lowe) crosses paths with a young boy on Christmas Eve and rediscovers the true meaning of love, life and the holiday season.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5544 in DVD
• Brand: GAIAM AMERICAS
• Released on: 2006-11-07
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 100 minutes

Amazon.com
The Christmas Shoes bounces between two families--the Layton household, where father Robert (Rob Lowe, The West Wing) is so consumed with his work that he misses his daughter's recital; and the Andrews home, where mother Maggie (Kimberly Williams, According to Jim) has been diagnosed with a fatal heart ailment. Desperate to make his mother's last moments happy, Maggie's son Nathan struggles to buy a pair of red dancing shoes that seem like a pair Maggie remembers from her childhood. Naturally, the lives of these families become intertwined, particularly when Robert's wife takes over Maggie's choral program--which topples the already troubled balance between Kate and Robert. Perhaps because Rob Lowe is usually stereotyped as glib and insincere, The Christmas Shoes feels surprisingly heartfelt. The earnestness of The Christmas Shoes surprises because the story originated in the famously sappy country song of the same name, and movies based on songs rarely feel anything but plastic and contrived. There are certainly moments when The Christmas Shoes lays on the sentiment woefully thick, but you'd have to be an ogre not to be touched when Maggie and her husband have one last dance. Also featuring Dorian Harewood (Roots: The Next Generations). --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews

If you're looking for a Christmas movie, you found it.
It's too bad that people looking for a different kind of movie blame their mistake on the movie!

Okay, if you don't want a sad movie, this movie is not for you. That doesn't make it a bad movie. Any number of stars in a mistake. You just got the wrong movie.

If you throw up at the thought of tender, affirmative feelings, this movie is not for you. That doesn't make it a bad movie. There a millions of hostile movies out there. Pick one.

News flash: there really ARE towns in the U.S. like the one in the movie (which was in Nova Scotia). If you hate small, friendly towns, then stay away from them. They probably wouldn't like you either.

On the other hand, if you like the feelings that are supposed to be associated with Christmas, this movie is a rare find. It's very easy to flub on tragic scenes. This movie doesn't. The acting by Kimberly Williams is just right. The timing and the scripting of the scenes is just right. As Maria Del Mar said in the special feature, these people act the way people really act. They don't throw things or rant the way most movie scripts have it. Maria, by the way, played her part very effectively.

I'm no fan of Rob Lowe, but his lawyer convinced me. Maybe I've known too many like him. They really are like this. If this strikes you as stiff, get over it. You want a lawyer, this is a lawyer.

I'm as easily depressed as the next guy, but I did not find this movie depressing. Tragic, yes. Depressing, no. Not sure why. The fact that the husband and son were going to go on, going to make it and be okay. The reformation of Robert was credible. It was thoroughly prepared and touching.

So, I found it a cathartic movie and very much in the true spirit of Christmas.

A Real Tear-Jerker
I almost used a box of kleenexes when I watched this movie on TV a couple of years ago. It is well acted, with an especially good performance by Kimberly Williams. I want to add though that it is extremely depressing and tragic, and is a little too sad for a Christmas movie in my opinion. The part where the little boy tries to listen to his mother's heartbeat to make sure she is still alive just about 'killed me'. Although it brings our attention to the things in life that are truly important, I personally prefer something a little more upbeat for the Christmas season.

Note: I see a sequel to this movie was made in 2005, called "The Christmas Blessing" about the little boy when he is grown up and becomes a doctor. It stars Neil Patrick Harris, who is an outstanding actor. I hope it is released on dvd sometime soon.

A Christmas story you will never forget!
I just watched this movie on TV, and WOW.
I loved the song it was based on by "New Song", and this prompted me to watch.
It is the kind of movie that makes you think about what is really important in your life.
It touched me so much that it brought me to tears.
It is a wonderful movie for everyone, and is not just a "Girlie movie".
Would recommend this to anyone, and I can't wait to own it once released to DVD.