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If you’re in the mood to watch something Christmassy and you love heart-warming stories, then you’ll probably like this movie. It’s a semi-autobiographical movie of Thomas Kinkade’s life when he was younger. Even if you don’t know Thomas Kinkade, it doesn’t matter. I think the brightest star of the movie is Peter O’Toole. He really IS AMAZING!

And if you’re a fan of Jared Padalecki, then you’d better see this one since he’s playing the role of Thomas Kinkade and I think he does a very good job at it. All in all, I’ll give this movie a 7.7 stars out of 10.

The Story:

Thomas Kinkade (Jared Padalecki) tells the story of Christmas time back in 1977 and the events that made him find his art form. At that time he was a college student (an aspiring painter) who came home to his mother’s cottage in Placerville with his younger brother Pat (Aaron Ashmore). Anyway, as the story progresses, they find out that their mother (played by Marcia Gay Harden) has lost her job and that she is going to lose her cottage, as well, since she can’t pay the mortgage. 

Though they are on a holiday, they try getting a job to be able to raise the money to pay for the mortgage. Thomas also visits his tutor, the famous painter Glen Wesman (Peter O’Toole), though Glen has now lost the will to live since his health has deteriorated and he’s missing his dead wife. Anyway, Thomas finds a job to make a mural of the town and while doing it, he finds inspiration from his tutor. His tutor encourages him to always give his best with his art, because art is surpasses all boundaries and languages.

In the meantime, the residents of the town are preparing for a Christmas play. You’ll find funny moments as you get to know the different characters of the townfolks and their antics. As you can probably guess, this movie has a happy ending, but will the family lose their cottage? Will Thomas and Pat be able to raise enough money to pay off the mortgage? Will Glen be able to find the will to live and paint again?

Notes:

1. My fave quotation of the movie: “In the end, love is the brightest light of all.”

2. Although I don’t like some things I read about Thomas in the Wikipedia link on top of this review, I still think that the core of this story is good. You can see many aspects of life from this movie, so it doesn’t just focus on Thomas’ life. 

3. In case you wonder why, I don’t know why the DVD cover says Thomas Kinkade’s Christmas Cottage, but in imdb it’s entitled Thomas Kinkade’s Home for Christmas.

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