Call Me Mrs. Miracle TV movie

This is on my blog www.badcb.blogspot.ca: 

Dec. 9 Call Me Mrs. Miracle: I saw this TV movie Call Me Mrs. Miracle on Dec. 12, 2013.  I might as well write about it now during the holiday season.  I only watched this because my favorite Edmonton actor Eric Johnson was in it.  The alternate title is Miracle in Manhattan.

There are these beautiful shots of NYC during Christmas.  It starts off with Jake (Eric Johnson) in his apartment in the morning.  He’s reading the newspaper about the hot new robot toy this season called the Intellytron.  An Asian woman news reporter also talks about the toy.

Holly (Jewel Staite from the TV show Firefly) is taking care of her 10 yr old nephew Gabe (Quinn Lord) because his dad is a soldier in Iraq.  They talk about Intellytron.

Holly is buying coffee, and she doesn’t have her card so Jake buys it for her.  She has a tendency to ramble.

Jake goes to work at a department store.  He is the manager and his dad JR Finley is the president.

JR: I made you the store manager, and now you made the decision to not sell the Intellytron.

Jake: I’m willing to put my job on the line if we don’t sell all the toys.

Holly enters her fashion job.  Her boss Lindy (Lauren Holly) is uptight and will be on the Shopping Network soon.  They talk about Holly’s reversible dress design.

Jake is the department store and an ornament drops and Jake picks it up.  He meets Mrs. Miracle (Doris Roberts).  She’s happy and peppy.

Jake: I don’t remember HR calling and telling me about hiring you.

The sales associate Gloria (Patricia Mayen-Salazar) says: I thought you hired her.

Jake: I didn’t.  She could be a confused old woman who wandered in.  Call HR.

Holly and Gabe meet Mrs. M when they look at toys.

The toy dog talks as Holly pulls it’s string.  It says in Mrs. M’s voice: “Your love is here.”

Holly and Jake meet again and she tells him about Gabe and how his mom passed away.

Mrs. M (to Holly): Gabe loves you.  Your efforts will be rewarded.

Holly introduces Gabe to her boss Lindy.

Gloria sits with Mrs. M at lunch and Mrs. M bought enough for 2.

Gloria: Those are the food my grandma made.  I called HR and there’s no record of you.

Mrs. M: They hire so many people, I’ll straighten it out.

Lindy goes on the Shopping Network.

JR is standing outside and meet Mrs. M.  Mrs. M tells him that Jake is busy with inventory.  She then introduces Gloria to JR and JR remembers her.

Mrs. M: You two can share a cab because you live 6 blocks away.

So she plays matchmaker here.

Jake then comes and Mrs. M tells him that he has to go home.

Jake: My mom died on Christmas Eve, and my dad thinks it’s disrespectful to celebrate Christmas.

Mrs. M: You should walk home to clear your head.

Holly and Gabe go to a chestnut vendor and meet Jake.  They go on a horse carriage ride.

Jake: Toys should spark the imagination.

They then take a special car service home.  Jake then asks Holly out and she says she has work and can’t get a baby- sitter for Gabe.

Jake: I’ll bring the food.

The next day Gloria tells Mrs. M: JR and our cab broke down and we had dinner.  We have a lot in common.  My husband died the same year his wife died.

Holly is at work.

Lindy: You want me to go to a retail shop and look at the people and see what kind of customers we have?  We only do high end.

JR talks to Mrs. M.

Mrs. M: If I sell out the toy store, you throw the holiday Christmas party.

JR: Okay.

Mrs. M: I’ll plan it.

Holly and Jake at her apartment.

Jake: My mom died 20 yrs ago on Christmas Eve.  It was a car accident with 2 cabs on a snow storm.  We go on an island vacation.  It’s more of an escape.  I never told anyone that.

Holly: It’s good to say things out loud.  It put things in perspective.

Holly reads her fortune cookie: “Your efforts will be rewarded.  That’s what Mrs. Miracle said.”

Jake reads his: “One kiss will change your life.”

Jake: I can’t tell you.  Maybe I’ll whisper it.

Jake kisses her.

Clothing store.  Mrs. M sees Lindy there.  Mrs. M is looking for a dress for a Christmas party so you can wear it from work to night.  Lindy looks around at the customers.  Lindy goes to work and sees everybody’s sizes and decides to go from 0-16 and go to the Shopping Network again to sell Holly’s dress.

On TV news it’s reported that after playing with the Intellytron, the toy explodes and sets on fire.

Jake and Holly play Monopoly at her place and they then go to a restaurant.

Lindy is on the Shopping Network again and says the dress “avoids the walk of shame.”

Mrs. M (to Jake): Do you want to be right or do you want to be happy?

Holly then remembers she has to pick up Gabe from school.

Gabe: You said we were going to go shopping on Thurs. for dad’s gift.

Holly apologizes.

1 hr 20 min into the movie, Holly goes to work and gets a call that Gabe is not a school.

Lindy: I have an announcement about you.

Holly: So you can say I’m fired for lousy sales?  Fine, I quit.

Holly leaves work and gets a call from Mrs. M that Gabe is at the store.  Holly yells at Gabe and Gabe yells back about how there are only 3 days left till Christmas and he has to get something for dad.  She writes an email to her brother Mike about how hard it is to be a parent and then decides to write a happy email.

Jake gets a plane ticket to an island, but wants to celebrate Christmas.  Holly and Jake are decorating the tree at her place.  On TV news, Mrs. M is there and says: “I work at Finley’s and we don’t sell Intellytron.  Proceeds go to children whose parents are in the military.

Gabe bought Holly a music box with a little ballerina.  He had gone to the store to buy it for her.  They hug.

JR reads his Christmas cards.

Jake tells Mrs. M that he saw her on TV last night. 

It starts snowing. 

The store is busy.    

JR (to Jake): You authorized the proceeds (of the charity).

Jake: Yes.

JR: You were right about old toys.

Jake: I know about being happy than being right.  So I’m not fired?

JR: I didn’t plan to fire you.  I’m planning on giving this company to you to run.

JR: This is the train set your mom and I bought for you the week before she died.  I held onto it.

They hug.

A military solider Mike enters: I just came back.  What toy can I buy?

Jake: Have this train set.  For free.

JR (to Jake): You have your mother’s heart.

They go across the street and the Christmas party is on.

Jake: Don’t you have a plane to catch?

JR: I’m not escaping anymore.

Lindy tells Holly that she wasn’t going to fire her, but to say that her dress sold well and that she can still work there.

Holly reads a Christmas story to Gabe.  There’s a knock at the door.  Gabe’s dad Mike enters.  (It’s the military solider at the store.)  Gabe hugs his dad.

Mike: My commander drew straws for Christmas, and I got to go home.

Mike and Gabe watch the train set.

Jake calls Holly to come to his party.  Jake meets Mike again.  Gabe and Holly there.  Jake gives Holly a present and it’s a gold thimble necklace.  When they were playing Monopoly, she talks about her lucky thimble.

Mrs. M: Your wish for your dad to be here came true.

Gabe: I didn’t tell you that.

Mrs. M: I have to go.  Little boys and girls need me.

Mrs. M walks away and fades away.  A star twinkles in the sky.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1708459/

My opinion: I thought this TV movie was average.  I only watched it because Eric Johnson was in it.  If he wasn’t in it, I wouldn’t have watched it.  It’s a light, happy, and fun TV movie.  There’s some drama.  My main problem with it was that there wasn’t a lot of conflict in it.

The only conflict I really felt was when Gabe was missing and wasn’t at school.  There’s some drama about Jake’s mom dying 20 yrs ago, and JR losing his wife.  There’s drama with Gabe’s mom dying and Holly having to take care of him while her brother is the military.  Jake and Holly both had stress at work.

Then again, it’s a Christmas TV movie so there has to be all these warm and fuzzy moments in it.  I do recommend you watch it to get into the holiday spirit.