This is a movie filled with hope, faith and kindness. It is a faith builder, feel good movie. It has great acting and interesting characters with a beautiful story line. I loved it and would watch it again. A great Christmas movie for the family.

Other than my lifelong love of Christmas, my main reasons for wanting to see 'The Christmas Candle' were that the messages appealed to me, they are nice messages and still important and relevant in this day and age, and because of the cast, which is a talented one. Lesley Manville especially and Samantha Barks is an immensely talented performer in acting and singing. Despite liking Susan Boyle's voice and liking what she stands for, there were doubts as to her acting ability.

While not exactly loving 'The Christmas Candle', so much is done right here and do agree (if not as vehemently, and in a way as disrespectfully, as with others) that it does not deserve some of the over-the-top criticism it has garnered. Can understand some of the flaws (as they are there),but then there have been some that can easily pass as straight out weird and nit-picky. Is it perfect? No, not to me. But a big part of me really couldn't help appreciate the film and what it had to say and its good intentions are present throughout. As said, its good things are a lot and the best of those good things are done extremely well indeed.

Shall start with the drawbacks. There are parts that are a bit contrived and others that are too sentimental, with the conclusion being one of the prime examples of the latter (too sappy for my taste). Would have liked some of the messaging delivered with more subtlety in the script at times.

Although Boyle does sing angelically, her acting inexperience does show. Compared to the more seasoned actors, she seemed a little stiff but does still do her best.

However, 'The Christmas Candle' is incredibly well made. The scenery is exquisite and the time and place is remarkably authentically evoked in the production and costume designs. The photography enhances all this beautifully and atmospherically. The quaintness and charm of the setting translates very well here while not making too picture perfect. Also a beauty is the music score, it brings a lump to the throat and often haunting without being too syrupy or over-emphasising the mood.

Despite the script not being perfect, it is well-meaning and doesn't sound like it doesn't have any substance to it. It flows quite well too and doesn't come over as stilted. Again the story has imperfections, but it didn't come over as dull to me, it was coherently structured and it was moving. The messaging didn't come over as vague and, while subtlety would have been more welcome perhaps, it is hardly out of date and important in society today in a way if one is not too cynical. The characters engage and one admires and relates to their trials and tribulations and how they go about them. Barks and Hans Mattheson are charming and sincere leads and Manville, Sylvester McCoy and John Hannah are distinguished support, McCoy's more understated than usual performance stands out.

Concluding, very worthwhile and, while with its drawbacks, deserving of more credit. 7/10

Christmas tradition is to present the birth of Jesus as the light of every life and hope and the story of a miracle birth which represents most importantly hope, peace and giving. This is not an easy message to present on film, even with very good production values and excellent costumes and sets. While it is an old fashioned set of Christmas values, for some reason it is out of step with the modern technology of war mongering where terrorists and drones are trying to literally take the Middle East back to the times of the Bible.

This movie is a breath of fresh air. It portrays an old English Village with a legend of Christmas Values and miracles. A new young pastor comes to town and tries to bring change to all of this. He questions everything that exists here and for good reason. He is in a personal crisis of his own due to his personal, unanswered prayers. He questions why everything here is like it is.

When I saw the name Samantha Barks in the opening credits, it was a name that stuck with me. The pastor meets her on the way into town and helps her. The town shows little faith in the pastor high and mighty when he arrives and even less after his first service. This movie gets away from hi technology entirely. It communicates a message without cell phones. While the legend of the candle is a little strange being once every 25 years, the message being conveyed here is timeless.

The humor in the well drawn characters and cast is the kind of humor that comes natural and is not forced. That is the important thing here. This is one of the few films about Christmas that like the holiday itself does not force people to believe in it's message. It amazes me that people feel threatened with this type of message. I guess we need a reminder this is the message and we should step back and feel peace, love, joy and enjoy the light of this holiday. This movie gives what we wish to receive.