I watched this movie for the very first time in 2011 having literally stumbled across it on the Christmas 24 movie channel here in the UK. Although it has a romantic angle, this movie is more about warmth, generosity and Christmas spirit.
Christmas Angel is, for me, one of those little heart-warming gems of a film that you may never hear about until you happen to catch it on TV by accident. When trying to research the movie after seeing it, there was very little online about it, and at the time of writing, it doesn’t even have its own Wikipedia page.
It was released in the US in 2009, presumably straight to TV. It’s available to buy on DVD and Blu Ray as well as for hire/purchase on iTunes.
I’m going to stick my neck out and say this could be one of the most under-rated Christmas films ever. I mean, even IMDb has it as a 6.5, which is good considering the slating many movies take!
2015 Update: There appears to now be a page about this movie on the Sky Movies website, so perhaps it will be shown on Sky Movies this December?
The plot – unspoilt
Christmas Angel features three main characters. The first is Ashley Matthews, played by Kari Hawker. Ashley is a single lady in New York City, is not a huge fan of Christmas, lives with her pet dog and is struggling to find work.
Her neighbour is an older chap, Nick Anderson, played by Bruce Davison. They live next door to each other in an apartment block and early in the movie Nick is pretty much the only male that Ashley trusts.
That is until she bumps in to journalist Will Price, played by K.C. Clyde.
As the film progresses, neighbour Nick offers Ashley some work, albeit very vague work. It involves delivering files and documents to different places around the city, assured by Nick that she is “helping to make people happy”.
Meanwhile, Will is keen to find out exactly what the work is, so sets about trying to get a scoop on the secretive operation.
What transpires is heart-warming, festive and feel good. It’s genuinely a lovely movie, although there is a sad moment or two along the way (tissues may be required).
What we thought
We just love this film to bits. The plot is really quite original as far as Christmas movies go, and while there is no big soundtrack or big-name cast, everything slots together beautifully well. Make a point to watch this movie, you may just like it.