“GOD HAS A WAY OF PUTTING PEOPLE TOGETHER”
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
BRINGING CHRISTMAS HOME is a soulful, impressive combination of sleuthing, romance, patriotism, and Christmas spirit. Russell Carlisle, an antique dealer, and his sister, find a highly decorated World War II uniform with a love letter and Christmas card in the coat pocket. Russell teams up with a professor of military history, retired U. S. Army Major Caroline Upton, to find potential family members connected to the uniform. The solution to the mystery gets closer through interviews with people who know only a piece of the puzzle. They usually refer Caroline and Russell to someone else who knows something more. Meanwhile, Russell and Caroline begin to have feelings for one another.
The actors in BRINGING CHRISTMAS HOME do a sparkling job with their already well thought-out script. Kudos should also go to the directing, cinematography, and the production design. They all come together to tell an absorbing, entertaining and moving story. Airing on the Great American Family network, BRINGING CHRISTMAS HOME also has a strong moral, patriotic worldview stressing personal sacrifice, honorable and heroic military service, bravery, patriotism, healthy relationships, family, and hard work.
CONTENT:
(BBB, PPP, C, CapCap)
Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements:
Very strong moral, patriotic worldview, with some Christian, redemptive messages, includes references to Christmas, and a character says, “God has a way of putting people together,” and stresses personal sacrifice, honorable and heroic military service, bravery, patriotism, healthy relationships, family, and hard work, with some pro-capitalist elements
Foul Language:
No foul language
Violence:
No violence
Sex:
No sex
Nudity:
No nudity
Alcohol Use:
No alcohol use
Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse:
No smoking or drugs; and,
Miscellaneous Immorality:
Nothing objectionable.
MORE DETAIL:
BRINGING CHRISTMAS HOME offers a combination of sleuthing, romance, patriotism, and Christmas spirit as an antique dealer teams up with a professor of military history to find potential family members connected to a highly decorated World War II uniform. The actors and director in BRINGING CHRISTMAS HOME do a sparkling job with a well thought-out, beautifully photographed script, which offers an absorbing, entertaining, moving story with strong moral and patriotic values.
Russell and Jules Carlisle are a brother and sister who own the antique store “Past Presents.” Rummaging through their latest merchandise before displaying it for sale, they pour over a vintage U. S. Army dress jacket. A Christmas card postmarked 1944 is found in a pocket that includes the handwritten message intro “From Alice to my true love Orin,” the recipient’s name seeming to match the name sewn into the jacket as belonging to “O. Newton.” Because it’s now weeks before Christmas Day, Russell is inspired to find the owner or his family before Christmas to bring this treasure to its fitting home for this year’s holiday celebrations.
To commence his search, Russell turns to the internet to post a request for potential assistance on a military history forum. The owner of the forum, Retired U. S. Army Major Caroline Upton, turns out to be a professor of military history at a local college and pledges to help. They make arrangements to meet at a well-known coffee shop for Russell
to show the professor the uniform. This meeting begins a series of discoveries found through some initial basic research, yet mostly through interviews with people who know a piece of the puzzle, and who also refer Caroline and Russell to someone else who knows something more.
As soon as their eyes met at the coffee shop, the romantic storyline begins as well, though it develops throughout as a self-described “slow burn.” The growing relationship between Russell and Caroline is cautious and deliberate because Caroline is hesitant to enter any such relationship, especially because of her apparent case of PTSD resulting from a sparsely described enemy attack while on active duty. The complex subject is treated subtly and quite well. Though Russell is unaware, he remains respectful of Caroline’s relationship boundaries, yet gratified by the closeness that builds through their project’s course.
The actors in BRINGING CHRISTMAS HOME do a top-notch job with their already well thought out script. Kudos also should go to the director for encouraging these understated yet sparkling performances that make this venture both absorbing and entertaining. The camera work and production values of both the indoor and outdoor scenes are also high quality.
BRINGING CHRISTMAS HOME has a strong moral, redemptive worldview stressing personal sacrifice, honorable and heroic military service, bravery, patriotism, interpersonal respect and sexual purity, honoring parents and forebears, hard work in both the retail or academic worlds, and healthy relationship. A recurrent theme stresses the tremendous impact of support and communication from home for deployed troops. However, there’s only one mention of God in the movie when a veteran that served with Orin Newton says, “God has a way of putting people together.” His truthful comment reveals an otherwise unspoken theme of this poignant and worthwhile movie. BRINGING CHRISTMAS HOME is appropriate for viewers of all ages.
