While visiting a department store mall Santa (a blink and you'll miss him, Leslie Nielson) seven-year-old, Hallie O'Fallon (Thora Birch) asks him to reunite her divorced parents. Then with the aid of her older brother Ethan (Ethan Randall, Empire Records, 1995) and his crush Stephanie (a too old for him, Amy Oberer) they set out to make this happen.
All I Want For Christmas? Not quite, but it's a pleasant enough diversion. The wish fulfilment storyline could end up doing more harm than good for children of divorced parents, but it is worth watching.
Birch is the best thing about the film (as precocious Hallie), whether she's making snappy come backs at her mum's new fiance (Kevin Nealon) or slapping her mother in her fake slumber, she's a hoot!
Lauren Bacall adds much needed gravitas as grandma Lillian Brooks. Harley Jane Kozak and Jamey Sheridan are the perfectly polished parents. Worth watching.
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DIRECTED BY: Robert Lieberman. SCREENPLAY BY: Thom Eberhardt, Richard Kramer. RUNNING TIME: 97 minutes. CERTIFICATE: U / G. USA.
 seven-year-old, Hallie O'Fallon (Thora Bi...){kind=link}