Magical christmas

Ginny Granger ( Mary Steenbergen ) completely lost the spirit of Christmas. To make ends meet, Ginny works as a cashier at a grocery store, but there is not enough money even to buy good gifts for the children - Abby's daughter and son Kal. She was tormented by hard work, routine, poverty. Her husband, Jack ( Gary Basaraba ), has been unemployed since June, and now the family is forced to move out of the company’s house by January 1. Jack is not discouraged, he works in the basement on the bike that he wants to give to Christmas, the poor neighbor girl, Molly Monaghan. And Jack would also like to open his own bike shop, but that would take all the meager family savings that Ginny considers stupid and unacceptable.

One night, Abby walks across the street to a mailbox to send a letter to Santa Claus . At the box, she meets a strange man in a long cloak and a cowboy hat. Abby's omitted letter somehow magically pops out of a drawer back into the hands of this man. He says that his name is Gideon (Harry Dean Stanton) and that he is a Christmas angel . He was once a man who saved a drowning boy, but he drowned himself because he could not swim. And now once a year he appears somewhere on Earth as an angel, so that only one single person will try to restore faith in Christmas . Abby asks him to return faith in Christmas to his mom, Ginny, and Gideon agrees. To begin with, he asks Abby to give her letter to Santa Claus to her mother, so that she herself will send it. When Abby returns home, she almost falls under the car, but Gideon miraculously saves her.

The next day, the Granger family visits Jack's grandfather, Caleb Granger. He gives gifts to great-grandchildren: Cal receives a book, and Abby receives a glass ball with the image of the North Pole. That night, Gideon visits Abby in her room and finds out that Ginny never sent a letter to Santa Claus. Gideon warns Abby that frightening things may happen tomorrow, but she does not need to be afraid. Meanwhile, Ginny and Jack talk in the kitchen about finances. He reiterates his desire to open a bicycle business, and she says that he must find a new job. Frustrated, Jack goes for a walk; Ginny doesn't stop him. All the Christmas lights on the street are ominously fading.

The next day, on Christmas Eve, Ginny goes to work. At the gas station, she sees a desperate man, Harry, trying to sell a camping stove and even his car for nothing to buy his son Christmas presents, but everyone turns his back on him. Meanwhile, Jack, leaving the children in the car, goes to the bank to take some money from the savings to make Christmas presents for the children. He tells the children to wait in the car, but Abby runs out to visit Ginny at the grocery store across the street. Abby tells Ginny that Jack is in the bank, and Ginny, fearing for savings, rushes to the bank. Seeing this, the store manager claims that this is not possible, and then Ginny is fired. Ginny returns Abby to the car, enters the bank and discovers that the man from the gas station, Harry, is robbing the bank. Harry takes the hostage, Jack tries to persuade him to do without violence, but Harry shoots him and Jack dies. In a panic, Harry runs out of the bank and steals Jack's car, inside which Abby and Cal are sitting. Ginny, in desperation, also gets into the car and begins to chase Harry. The police also rushes in pursuit. Harry drives out of town, drives up to a bridge blocked by police, fails to control, and the car falls into the river with the children.

Ginny in shock returns to an empty house and cries in the bathroom. But soon Jack's grandfather, Caleb, comes to tell her that the children were found, they stood on the side of the road. Police believe the bandit dropped them off before the disaster, but in reality it was Gideon who saved them from the river. When the children return home, Ginny tells them that dad is dead.

Later that night, Abby runs off to the city Christmas tree, hoping to see Gideon there. She asks Gideon to return dad. Gideon tells her that he cannot do this, and that the only person who can help her is Santa Claus himself. Gideon takes Abby to the North Pole to meet with Santa there. Santa informs her that he also cannot return Jack, but Ginny is capable of this, if only the spirit of Christmas returns to her. Santa leads Abby through his factory, where not elves work, but “ordinary, good people” after the end of his earthly life. At the post office, he finds an old letter that Ginny wrote when she was a child, and tells Abby to give the letter to her mother.

Gideon returns Abby home and she gives Ginny a letter. Ginny reads him in surprise, suddenly understands everything, and the true meaning of Christmas returns to her. She goes to the mailbox to send a letter to Abby Santa Claus. Suddenly, all the Christmas lights around come on again, and Jack appears. Ginny rushes to him and hugs, and Jack only looks in surprise, muttering that he went out for a walk of only ten minutes.

The next day, Ginny miraculously relives the events of Christmas Eve, but this time in a completely different way. At a gas station, she buys Harry's camping stove, who thanks her heartily and says that she does not even suspect how much her act means to him. That evening, she writes a check to Jack for a bike shop, and the children give their neighbor, Molly, a bike made by Jack. And at night, Ginny hears something below and finds Santa there, putting gifts under the tree. He stops and wishes Ginny a Merry Christmas. She smiles and congratulates Santa in response.

• Mary Steenburgen - Ginny Granger
• Gary Basaraba - Jack Granger
• Harry Dean Stanton - Gideon
• Arthur Hill - Caleb Granger
• Elizabeth Arnoy - Abby Granger
• Robbie Magwood - Cal Granger
• Michelle Meyrink - Betty
• Elias Koteas - Eddie
• Wayne Robson - Harry Dickens
• Jan Rubes - Santa Claus
• Sarah Polly - Molly Monaghan
• Graham Jarvis - Frank Crump
• Timothy Webber - Herby Conklin

• Magic Christmas on the Internet Movie Database
• Magic Christmas (on English) on allmovie
• Magic Christmas at Box Office Mojo
• Magic Christmas at Rotten Tomatoes