A Town Without Christmas (2001 TV Movie)
5/10
Well done, but formulaic
18 December 2001
I watched this TV movie because I'm a fan of "Everybody Loves Raymond," the sitcom Patricia Heaton is in. I was interested to see Heaton in a different role, as I had only seen her in "Raymond" up to that point.

She did a good job as the cynical TV news reporter, as did all the other actors in their roles.

However, the schmaltzy nature of the film is all too familiar as the tried and true method of tailoring TV movies to suit a female audience. The hard-bitten TV reporter finds true love. The lonely failed novelist solves a mystery from his past And the cute little girl brings her bickering parents back together. Give me a break!

TV movies like this are made for women as much as soap operas are made for women. There is no attempt to attract a mixed audience (except perhaps girls).

I almost quit watching this movie in the first five minutes because the producers made a gratuitous political statement on gun control in the guise of a piece the cynical reporter did for her TV station.

Movie producers would do themselves a favor by keeping politics out of their films unless it serves the plot. Chances are they DID lose viewers in the first five minutes from that gun control bit. I only kept watching because I had it on tape and could zip through the commercials.
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