Noelle

Rating PG Formats DVD Genre drama Starring David Wall, Kerry Wall, Sean Patrick Brennan Directed by David Wall Publisher Paramount

With the holiday season creeping up on us, so come the holiday films. Unlike most films you’d associate with the holidays, with their slapstick humor and extended family hi-jinks, Noelle is the exception. This is a pleasant family film that reminds its viewers of a perhaps more pure meaning of the holiday season.

Noelle is the story of a cynical priest, Father Keene (David Wall), who travels to a small New England town to evaluate the viability of the local parish. Upon Keene’s arrival the leader of the waning congregation, Father Joyce (Sean Patrick Brennan), in a last ditch effort to save his job and his parish, decides to put on a nativity play. Now through this process a lot of stuff happens, which I won’t ruin by telling you, which makes Father Keene reevaluate his life and beliefs. But I will say this, the woman in town cast as Mary, Marjorie Worthington (Kerry Wall), plays a big part in his journey.

Now let’s not get carried away. Although Noelle is a sweet and enjoyable film, it’s not about to replace It’s a Wonderful Life. So if you hadn’t already guessed, this is the part where I say what was not so great about the film. Where Noelle fell a little short is in the acting department. The biggest and most obvious offender is Sean Patrick Brennan. He plays a man of the people, a likeable, charismatic but flawed priest. But he’s just flat, no expression or inflection and when deep emotion is called for it comes off as insincere. The same is true of David Wall, but it works for his character and the little emotion he shows is real. In addition, David Wall looks remarkable like a young Robert Redford, so much so that at times it was distracting, but that is neither here nor there.

That being said, Kerry Wall’s work as Marjorie was pretty excellent. Another thing that was really enjoyable was the portrayal for the small town. With the supporting cast and script, Noelle definitely captured that small town feel and added some comic relief to an otherwise serious film.

Christmas symbols of the virgin Mary, Joseph, the wise men, God, baby Jesus, etc. but the message is not you’re typical Christmas message. The message is of forgiveness and second chances. It’s more of an Easter theme, if you ask me, but I digress. But for all its religious content and metaphor, Noelle surprisingly isn’t agenda pushing. It doesn’t force the viewer to take sides or believe in a certain creed associated with Catholicism or any other religion for that matter.

Overall Noelle is worth seeing if you like charming Christmas films. As an added bonus, this film is family friendly. So if you’re looking for something to watch at the next family gathering or youth event this film might just fill that void as well.