Christmas Angel

This small 2011 British film--originally titled My Angel—has been renamed and repackaged as some sort of classic Christmas treat with gaudy cover art bearing very little relation to the story, which is about a sensitive teenage boy named Eddie (Joseph Phillips) and his protective older brother, whose mother winds up in a coma after being hit by a car. Eddie's subsequent trauma is tempered by a dream-inspired quest for “his” angel to make this right, and his fervent belief that there is a heavenly guardian for him touches both a cranky professor at his school, Mr. Lambert (Timothy Spall), and the randy Headmistress (Brenda Blethyn). It turns out that Lambert also suffered a loss a long time ago, but his hardened heart melts in the face of Eddie's precocious faith. The story unfolds during a grey English Yuletide, although the proceedings remain decidedly secular. Spall and Blethyn do what they can to elevate the material, but even their presence can do little for the treacly story, which feels like an Anglo version of a subpar ABC Family Channel special. Throughout, 16-year-old Eddie behaves more like a 6-year-old with his blind faith that an angel out there will bring back his mum. And, believe me, it's no spoiler that he does find the angel or that mum wakes up fit as a fiddle just in time for Christmas. Not recommended. (T. Fry)