The sentiments are right on the money, but the execution never quite filled me with holiday cheer.
Comment
11/20/05
Noel (2004)
26
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:34
Fresh:9
Rotten:25
Average Rating:4.3/10
Theatrical Release:Nov 12, 2004 Limited
Synopsis: A first-rate cast comes together for this collection of intertwining tales of lonely New Yorkers reaching out to each other on Christmas Eve. Susan Sarandon plays Rose, a widowed editor who spends... [More]
Starring: Penélope Cruz, Susan Sarandon, Alan Arkin, Paul Walker
Director: Chazz Palminteri
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Reviews for Noel
A film about folks celebrating Christmas together is about as interesting and carries as much dramatic thrust as the 1989 Christmas reunion video immortalized on Uncle Fred's camcorder.
04/06/06
The kind of sappy, sadness-turns- to-gladness holiday movie that shows up on cable TV this time of year.
11/12/04
Top CriticClick to read the article
11/11/04
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12/06/05
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12/10/04
Utterly devoid of genuine emotion or warmth, Noel, which marks the directorial debut of actor Chazz Palminteri, is too sappy for words.
11/11/04
I can be sentimental under the right circumstances, but the movie is such a calculating tearjerker that it played like a challenge to me.
11/12/04
Top CriticA handful of competent performances can't keep Noel from pulling its audience through a bleak, cheerless hour and a half.
11/11/04
Santa Claus's bag couldn't hold as many clichés as the screenplay dishes out.
11/11/04
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04/29/09
Santa discontinued that whole coal-in-the-stocking thing a while back. Now, he brings movies like this one when you're bad.
11/12/04
The nut-ball factor is just too high for these characters.
11/15/04
Top CriticPleasantly watchable.
03/01/07
There's nothing at all surprising about Noel, except for the fact that it was ever made.
11/19/05
Sentimental and sappy enough to keep a maple syrup factory busy all year long, but isn’t that the point of Christmas movies anyway?
11/11/04
Fits snugly into the ‘Christmas movie’ canon by tapping into familiar problems, tugging at the heartstrings and stirring your tired soul.
11/23/04
[A] swirl of contrived Christmas Eve ‘magic’ that’s forced and mostly phony and never quite hits the right notes...
11/12/04
Hubbard's script is so steeped in sludgy sentimentality that the film's early hints of quirkiness quickly give way to heavy-handed faith healing.
10/06/04
Top CriticDesperate for warm and fuzzy holiday feelings, Noel is depressing and bland.
11/12/04
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