:      This review is for a Hallmark Hall of Fame TV movie (”Christmas in Conway”) that just premiered this week and is now showing on the Hallmark TV channel.  The Movie was made in Wilmington, NC but is supposed to be happening in Conway, SC. It’s a really fine film that tugs at the heartstrings. A good addition to anyone’s Christmas movie list.

By the way, when you watch it don’t skip over the Hallmark commercials…they wonderful.

 

 

CHRISTMAS IN CONWAY  3.0***

           Natalie(Mandy Moore) is a hospice nurse who  goes to Conway SC, 60 miles from home, to take care of Suzy (Mary Louise Parker), who is terminally ill and was only allowed to come home from the hospital if she had a home care nurse. Even so,Suzy's husband Duncan (Andy Garcia) doesn't want a nurse, saying he can take care of her himself.  Suzy has given up on chemotherapy so beating the cancer is no longer an option . But she hasn’t giving up either. Duncan  seems like a cranky old man  but he is very loving to Suzy, and inside the house  shows the emotions he is trying to hide when anyone else is around. He doesn't know how he will make it without her.

Duncan wants to take Suzy to Myrtle Beach so they can relive the day he proposed to her on a Ferris wheel there. But Suzy is too sick to make the trip. There is another way : Duncan decides to get a Ferris wheel of his own and put it up in his backyard. He is told that a guy named Henry has one.  Henry is a wacko who runs a junkyard . And NO the broken-down Ferris wheel is NOT for sale. But after a lot of haggling, one day a large truck shows up with Henry and his 2 of his buddies. All they do is unload. Duncan will have to do the rest, and Henry provides what directions he has.  

Meanwhile, Suzy is going downhill, though she tries to remain positive. As the Ferris wheel goes up Duncan encounters many problems. Can he make this fantasy really happen? Will Suzy even make it until it does?

The cast is quite good as is the story which is heart rendering  and sweet. And it doesn't shy away from the reality of terminal illness.  This is a worthy effort for the Hallmark Hall of Fame and adds to its list of fine movies.

 

Clark