Mrs. Miracle (2009)

Fantastic!

Don't listen to the negative reviews

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Every time this comes on, and once I catch a glimpse, I have to keep watching. The acting of the two leads, Van der Beek and Karpluk is top notch, and that indefinable certain something between them, Chemistry, is there in spades. You genuinely become invested in them. They play two good people with shadows in their past that is preventing them from being happy and living their best lives. In his case, his grief over the death of his wife is keeping him closed off from his sons and moving on. He has cut music and playing the piano out of his life. In her case, her anger and bitterness with her sister for stealing her fiancé in the worst possible way has kept her from reconciling with her and negatively impacting her whole family. With the help of Doris Roberts and a few strategically placed "miracles", she helps them see their way clear to dealing with their pasts and finding happiness and fulfillment with each other and their families. It never fails to bring tears of happiness.

Another of the nanny slayer children stories, but in this one, the single parent's new love interest is not also the new nanny. It worked out very well this way.While the story is about Mrs. Miracle, I didn't think Doris Roberts was quite perfect. Can't put my finger on it, but something was missing.James Vander Beek and Erin Karpluk had great chemistry.The story had no real surprises but was still very heartwarming.

This movie is one, a first for me, that I can truly say is BETTER than the book. (The book contains too many other subplots, especially the annoying, psychotic in-laws.) I can easily see why they were omitted to make the story fit into a two hour made-for-TV drama.....................The movie followed the book closely, but did not give us enough Mrs. Merkle "Miracles". You were never quite sure what she was...Debbie Macomber should have taken a few more clues from the old Nanny and the Professor show and stolen a few more subtle hints as to Mrs. Merkle's powers...................The book is the last by author Debbie Macomber I could tolerate reading....her writing has become trite and preachy instead of entertaining and interesting and are not worth the price charges for novels these days......................If you did not like this movie, you will HATE Debbie Macomber's books written in the past 10 yrs (her earlier works were actually better)............................

I for one enjoyed it. It felt a little rushed sometimes and like they could have expanded on a few things, but it was still cute and I'll buy it on DVD. James Van Der Beek and Erin Karpluck had some great chemistry. I would have loved to have seen more of that with the story expanding just a little more on their characters' courtship. The Christmas program left much to be desired but it wasn't the focus of the story so we'll forgive them that one. I do have one severe gripe and I've seen this many times over in movies that have a similar conflict with a specific character. With the back story between Reba and her sister I felt dissatisfied with Reba finally just showing up on her doorstep. If I were her I'd have a few more things to say and a few questions I wanted answered. Yes, perhaps they did talk and we weren't intended to see it but I would have liked to. In my mind it's no longer about the guy for Reba. He's long gone anyway and she's better off without him. It's about what her sister did and what would drive a sister to go that far. Mere competitiveness seems too trivial for a betrayal of that magnitude. So I would have liked to see that conversation. I would also have liked to see Seth at the piano in their home before his final decision to play at the pageant. I realize they probably wanted to emphasize his return by him just showing up but I would have liked to see it anyway. This movie wasn't really meant to be a nail-biter, after all. Still, as I said, I enjoyed it and I'll be happy to have a copy when it's released on DVD. I was definitely more pleased with this than National Tree or Flower Girl.