Noel (2004)

Editor's Note A first-rate cast comes together for this collection of intertwining tales of lonely New Yorkers reaching out to each other on Christmas Eve. Susan Sarandon plays Rose, a widowed editor who spends way too much time at the hospital bed of her Alzheimers-stricken mother. Robin Williams is the mysterious fellow who later prevents her from possibly jumping in the East River. Meanwhile Nina (Penelope Cruz) gets tired of the violently jealous outbreaks of her cop boyfriend, Mike (Paul Walker), and breaks their engagement. An obsessive old waiter (Alan Arkin) is convinced Mike is the reincarnation of his dead wife, while in another story a troubled young man (Marcus Thomas) attempts to smash up his hand so he can attend an emergency room Christmas party. Needless to say, these tales intersect movingly and the miracle of Christmas provides major healing to each character involved. Sarandon is a stand-out among the many fine performances here, Cruz is beautiful as always, but the real jaw-dropping surprise is Paul Walker. Famous as the dopey "white guy" in those FAST AND THE FURIOUS films, Walker reveals great depths of tortured feeling as the cop struggling to save his future family. Actor Chazz Palminteri (A BRONX TALE) directed this, his first feature film. Though set in New York, it was filmed in Montreal, so no, it's not a Christmas miracle that the city looks so nice and clean. Alan Menken (Disney's THE LITTLE MERMAID) provides the score.

	Alan Arkin
	Paul Walker
	Penelope Cruz
	Susan Sarandon
	Al Corley, et. al. - Producer
	Alan Menken - Original Music By
	Carol Spier - Production Designer
	Chazz Palminteri - Director
	David Hubbard - Writer
	Jonathan Dana - Executive Producer
	Russell Carpenter - Cinematographer
	Susan E. Morse, et. al. - Editor

The Village Voice 5 of 10
A lot of talent signed on for this small movieÑwhat did they see in it? Most of the redemptive notes ring false, as does the mythical Manhattan, where the snow is just too clean and everybody lives around the corner. - Leslie Camhi

Chicago Sun-Times 4 of 10
Only a cynic could dislike this movie, which may be why I disliked it. I can be sentimental under the right circumstances, but the movie is such a calculating tearjerker that it played like a challenge to me. There's a point at which the plot crosses an invisible line, becoming so preposterous that it's no longer moving and is just plain weird. If it's this much trouble to be happy on Christmas, then maybe Rose should consider doing what Susan Sontag does every year, which is to fly to Venice all by herself, and walk around alone in the fog and the mist and cross lonely bridges over dark canals and let the chill seep into her bones and then curl up in bed in an empty hotel with a good book. - Roger Ebert