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Christmas Comes To Willow Creek

1987, Movie, NR, 93 mins

Christmas Comes To Willow Creek: Review

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A made-for-TV weepie about an economically depressed blue-collar town and an emotionally depressed widower, this Christmas tale celebrates family, community and the bond between brothers. Even since the local cannery closed, Willow Creek, Alaska, has been devoid of holiday cheer. And this year, even Santa's number-one helper, trucker Al Bensinger (Hoyt Axton) is laid up. The former Willow Creek resident makes an annual trip home from Los Angeles with toys and supplies for his hometown, but Al is sick and the estranged brothers he had helped raise are slow to pick up the slack: Pete (Tom Wopat) and Ray (John Schneider) flatly refuse to ride together. Pete, a single parent, is determined not to disappoint his rebellious teenaged son, Michael (Zachary Ansley), by trucking out on another holiday, while irresponsible Ray has always resented his stable older brother. Pete and Ray's always rocky relationship fell apart when Ray married Jessie (Kim Delaney), whom Pete courted after his first wife's death. Loyalty to Al eventually prevails; Pete shanghais Michael and climbs into a trailer with rowdy Ray. Unlike uptight Pete, Uncle Ray is the kind of party animal with whom impressionable Michael can bond. While Pete sleeps, Ray makes an unannounced detour to Reno; he also plans to visit Jessie and if the folks waiting in Willow Creek have to wait a little longer, well, that's life. As Pete deals with Ray's influence over Michael, Ray does some soul searching about his mistreatment of Jessie, who's pregnant with his child. Jessie joins the crew aboard the truck, Ray and Pete get back on track and once the siblings have reconciled the only thing keeping them from Willow Creek is a raging blizzard. The film's central story family dysfunction rings true, so it's a shame that screenwriter Michael Norrell and director Richard Lang portray small-town in the style of a Saturday Night Live sketch about Norman Rockwell's America. Fortunately, Wopat and Schneider, the reunited stars of TV's The Dukes of Hazzard, have genuine chemistry and demonstrate far greater range than fans of the silly action comedy might have imagined. leave a comment --Robert Pardi
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