Our First Christmas (TV Movie 2008)

Our First Christmas: Directed by Armand Mastroianni. With Dixie Carter, Julie Warner, John Ratzenberger, Steven Eckholdt. Christmas plans are destined to be ruined when two families come together.

“This story is about what happens when a newly blended family tries to blend their traditions for Christmas. They do a good job of showing how traditions are bittersweet when someone is no longer there to share them. We see that these kids are not selfish and in fact very mature for their age in that sense. Giving up the traditions is like losing that loved one again.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis is not your stereotypical Christmas story, although Iu0026#39;m sure elements of it have been done before. The ending could have gone a couple of ways.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAll the acting is good. Two of the kids seem especially mature for their age. I was particularly impressed with John Ratzenberger who was nothing like he was on Cheers and presented a Christian retired pastor as a reasonable man of faith and love.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThere was a Bible reading about Christmas and saying of grace that was more than rote. The movie may be a little preachy, but it is not about religion. It is about the importance of family.”