Touches You

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

This movie had an interesting storyline--life with an active-duty army ranger. I enjoyed it, and have purchased it.I thought the character of Olivia Young got beat up a bit for having fears about the ranger's safety and questions about being left alone to raise children during his long assignments who-knows-where. I think Olivia's concerns were realistic, especially given some of the scenes depicting the reality of family life with a loved one overseas.I appreciated the references to God in this Christmas movie. That's getting more and more rare.I also want to mention there was some inappropriate touching between the army ranger and the child actress playing his little girl. (It was during a dinner scene.) I hope it was an accident. :-(

I have tremendous respect for the military. A movie like this always makes me nervous because I hope that the movie makers don't inadvertently cause anguish for those who live it.This movie deals with a lot of emotional issues for those in the military. The family left behind have a difficult life and for many of them, the emotional situation is not helped by the financial situation. As for the emotions of family of someone you know is going into the most dangerous situations possible, I am pretty sure I couldn't do it. This is what Olivia has never faced before and she has already lost a husband to divorce. And she tries to make an honest decision. I totally disagree with one statement made by her sister (when you see it you will know what I mean).Tricia Helfer has an emotional role and for me, this is one of the better performances I can remember on a made for TV movie (or a someone put it, the so-called B actors). This was not a B movie performance. Over and over she captured the raw emotion.The story was excellent even if perhaps some technical details were incorrect. The way the story was introduced at Whisper and then finished at the base was great. Seeing the lives of wives waiting at home, including a pregnant one was great. Seeing the toy drive and fundraiser put together was great. And there was plenty of good singing. (And even some bad singing for humor.) The other actors were good. Some of the scenery in the beginning gives reality to the word breathtaking.This is a Hallmark movie. It has a Hallmark ending. They all do. You expect that.

I'll start off with saying that I really liked this film. It was obviously shot in the summer, which made all of the snow (other than the glacier scene) a little comical. The unending sunshine is also only possible in the summer in the Pacific Northwest. It's all stuff we can overlook.The idea of meeting someone whom puts themselves in danger for the greater good is a theme used throughout the years, and for good reason. It's an underlying theme of Christmas as well. Tricia Helfer knocked her role out of the park in this film, and I'd have never found this film had it not been for her mentioning it on Twitter. The military stuff was entirely annoying as a veteran, but I understand that most writers have only a cursory knowledge of the military when doing their writing. Firefighters say the same thing when watching firefighting movies. Writers are rarely experts in their subject matter. I'd like to have seen active duty military there to advise on dress & appearance. I'd also wished that deployments were more accurately depicted, but this isn't a film about the military. It's a film about giving, and what it means to come together as a community for Christmas. One has to understand that distinction. I, as a veteran, understand that. They did a great job with this film once you get past nit-picking, and I'll watch it every Christmas from here on out.

This movie tried to hit the target but missed it by a mile. I was in the military and while you can ship out anytime the ways its portrayed in this movie is so far off base. Also they show a lifestyle for a sergeant that is way out of their pay range. I just didn't like it. I hate when they try to do movies about military life but don't fully do research. That or they just change it to fit their so called "vision". Also you don't deploy one day and come back the next. That just doesn't happen. When deployed its for a while not just 24 hours. They fact that everyone is oh its the military life we love it its great is false. Also they make the lady the bad person because she has concerns. Sorry but she had a valid point.