Libramedi
Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant
CrawlerChunky
In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.
Ginger
Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.
Jack Vasen
Awkward, odd, strained, maybe even inappropriate.Jason Robards is a widow who doesn't want to travel to see his son's family, but still doesn't want to be alone for Christmas. So what does he do? In effect, he asks a strange man at a strange "relationship" agency to set him up with the equivalent of an escort, but one his own age. Hanky Panky? Oh, no, he says, "two separate rooms".Whether you like this movie will be strictly a matter of taste. I found it slow, and yes awkward. The situation was so strange, I just couldn't relax with it, and I think that's what you would need to enjoy it.The acting was fine. The plot was, well as I said, strange. It wasn't helped by the fact that it is a short story adapted to a TV movie and as a result, there isn't a lot of substance to the plot. Most of what you get out of it is between the lines.
win741
All of the above reviews offer an insight I can understand. I wish to add that this is so very rare a film, for me, because there is romance, in the sense that one can feel real chemistry between these two great performers. There is the real feeling of the possibility of desire, of a physical attraction that emerges, unexpectedly, really, between elderly people.This possible couple had grace, charm, and, delightfully, both became more desirable as one watched. The film had credibility, warmth, charm, and an ending that can best be understood by those who have lived a little.
ac6457
A muted film for the mature. Not a "pretty" film, nor is it sugar-coated with a "Hollywood" ending. Instead, to get the most out of this film, one must have lived, suffered, and know deep loss. Somehow, out of this accumulated life experience, the mature viewer comes away nodding at the film's many truths. My wife and I nodded in agreement and understanding with the characters' well-crafted lines, awkward silences, and moments of discovery. We loved "The Christmas Wife." And yet we can understand those who did not enjoy this film. Perhaps they were looking to be entertained rather than to be challenged or reminded that life can be full of surprises, no matter how old one becomes. There was an air of genuine pathos as the film began, yet, at the end, one came away amused, stimulated, and wondering what the protagonist would encounter as he moved on in life after loss.
MartinHafer
When I first heard of this movie, I jumped at the chance to see it. After all, Jason Robards starred in this film AND he also starred in one of the best forgotten made for TV Christmas movies (THE HOUSE WITHOUT A Christmas TREE). So, I naturally assumed it would be excellent. Well, I was half right. Jason Robards was a wonderful and incredibly talented actor, so I did appreciate him in the film. BUT, the story itself was dreadful and so depressing. It seems that Robards' character is old and lonely so he pays an older woman to pretend she is his wife and they spend a VERY depressing and awful Christmas together. I really don't think there was much point to the movie other than this. This is the sort of holiday film that could make a Scrooge out of most viewers.
