As long as you have siblings, you are bound to come to a point where conflict ensues no matter how great the relationship. Such is the case for sisters Kate ( Carly McKillip) and Melanie (Britt McKillop) O'Brien who have remain close despite their differences at least while they were young. Kate has always lived in the shadow of her sister Melanie, who was outgoing in school, always had plenty of boys who wanted to date her and has always been beautiful and successful at anything that crosses her path. Quite different from Kate who was shy and didn't see herself as beautiful when hidden behind the glasses she needed to wear. During a family Christmas, the O'Brien family decided to incorporate a time capsule to be opened at a later date. It was during that time that the division in the O'Brien family began. When Kate buried her beloved sisters favorite marionette in the backyard as her contribution. In order to discover the time capsule, all members of the family must be present because they each possess a portion of the clue to find it again.
Only the family never dreamed that years later, their family would be torn apart. When Kate discovers that Melanie's soon-to-be husband is busy flirting at their wedding with a bridesmaid, Kate storms out telling her sister she can't be a part of watching her destruction of the perfect life. Without telling her the specifics, she abruptly leaves and places the parents at odds now that the girls are much older. Somehow the parental authority doesn't hold much weight. When faced with the dismiss of their daughters relationship, even Al (George Canyon) and Wendy( Amy Jo Johnson) begin to fall apart in their marriage beginning when the family home goes into foreclosure and they end up in another home. Now faced with no longer having anything in common, Wendy and Al decide a separation and divorce are their only hope for a future.
However when the girls learn that their parents are divorcing based on the problems stemming from Kate and Melanie's conflict, they decide to see if one last family Christmas in their old home will be just the right about of kindling to fan the flames of restoration for all of them. Only now the family home has been sold to Mike (Ben Hollingsworth) a Marine veteran and woodworker. Is is possible to pull off the ultimate Christmas miracle? You'll have to pick this one up to find out.
I received Coming Home for Christmas by director Vanessa Parise and Fly By Promotions for my honest review and did not receive any monetary compensation for a favorable review. This is such a heart warming family movie that I believe everyone can relate to. For me, even though my brother and I were close, we had our moments that undoubtedly tested our parents resolve. I love how they are willing to work together despite their differences and try hard to work through things without finding forgiveness with one another first. We see how well that works later in the movie. This is a movie about hope, faith and forgiveness despite how things may initially look on the outside and is a wonderful warm movie to begin the Christmas season with. I'd rate this one a 5 out of 5 stars and will look forward to incorporating this into our Christmas movie time each year. Finally a great movie with a message that is perfect for families.