Father Simeon Joyce's (Sean Patrick Brennan) parish is in trouble. It's a week before Christmas and the Church has sent hard-hearted and cold Father Jonathan Keene (David Wall), the Church's "hit-man", to close the church down down once Christmas is over. It's no big wonder since attendance has trickled down to a few scant elderly folks and it's normally easier to find Father Joyce in the local pub than at the church. It turns out Joyce and Keene knew each other in the past and Keene decides to stick around for a while to see if there's anything worth saving at the parish. Perhaps putting on a living nativity scene will rouse the parishioners.
As the two men try to find actors to play the parts of the Holy Family and the Wise Men, one member of the church stands out as perfect for the role of Mary. Marjorie Worthington (Kerry Wall), the local librarian, appears perfect for the role. She's young, beautiful and would be ideal, or so they thought. Secrets surround Marjorie's life and things are not as they appear. As Father Keene finds himself falling in love with her, he comes to terms with his own past and his decision to become a priest, which was not based on a calling but on guilt. Keene keeps seeing an odd vision of a beautiful little girl everywhere he goes and these things soon cause his life to turn upside down. Meanwhile, Father Joyce starts to come to terms with his flippant behavior as a priest and perhaps that his focus hasn't been on his parishioners, but more on himself. A strange turn of events and a Christmas miracle bring the entire parish together and makes for a happy ending.
While this film takes place during Christmas and has some Christmas music in it, it's not exactly the stereotypical "holiday" movie. It has a nice message, but may not be the family movie one would expect because when I think Christmas, cruel or boozing priests is not what springs to mind. Topics such as abortion and alcohol are covered liberally, so parents need to be aware of that. The acting is pretty good and there are some cool visual scenes in the film, but if you come to this film looking for a Miracle on 34th Street, you'll be sorely disappointed. Try and catch it on TV or rent it if you really want to see it, but it's difficult to recommend a purchase, especially since there are no special features.
