McKeon is The Family Woman
Christmas is coming, not that Jane Berry (Nancy McKeon) is that fussed as she doesn't really do Christmas especially as her parents are divorced and it makes things awkward when her mother (Dixie Carter) turns up with her younger lover. Christmas is not the only thing which Jane doesn't care that much for as she doesn't do kids, something which her boyfriend Richard (Grant Nickalls) agrees with as he is all about his career. But when driving home on Christmas Eve Jane has a car crash she comes around to learn she is a married mother of two who is a happy house wife who spends her time doing volunteer work.
I am here to bring you good tidings of "Comfort and Joy" as whilst it doesn't take long for this Christmas movie to establish itself as a bit of a play on the "What If" question of "The Family Man" it makes some fun changes to make it fresh and keep you on your toes as to how it will eventually play out. Of course I mean that beyond the obvious happy ever after as this is a made for TV Christmas movie. As such it goes without saying that after Jane's initial confusion as to what is happening she begins to grow to love this version of her life and also Sam, her husband in this version of her life. But as I said you are not entirely sure how this version will play out, well unless you have watched a more recent Christmas TV movie which does something similar.
But this whole "What If" storyline works and much of that comes down to the casting with Nancy McKeon being both attractive and likeable as Jane. It means that right from the word go there is something even likeable about the corporate Jane Berry and she isn't as heartless as some might have played her. But McKeon really brings the warmth out when she starts to love being a wife and a mother. But then Steven Eckholdt is perfectly cast opposite McKeon because he has a down to earth likeable nature which you fall in love with especially as he plays Sam without a bad bone in his body.
What this all boils down to is that "Comfort and Joy" is the perfect example of how to take something familiar, as in a "What If" movie, and make it entertaining with even a question of mystery as to how a happy ending can ever arrive. Much of what makes it right is the likeable nature of stars Nancy McKeon and Steven Eckholdt as they bring the warmth and gentle humour to their characters.
Tags: TV Christmas Movies, Christmas Movies
