L'albero dei desideri

The story is nice and the actors are very good (certainly quite different than others in this type of movie, who can range from overacting to not believable). Bottom line is that this movie ends up being better than other holiday ones.

Loved it until the military mom showed up in some type of costume. Is it so difficult for wardrobe or costume or whoever to get an Army uniform right? Google is your friend. I literally laughed out loud. Almost discredited the whole movie for me.

Another classic Hallmark movie: a sweet and warm Christmas story with a solid script; strong performances by the leads; and plenty of Christmas spirit and festive cheer. One of my favorites thus far this season. The chemistry between Jill Wagner (as Rebecca) and Lucas Bryant (as Matthew) was excellent. There was some very good, convincing interaction between the two of them thru-out. For example, about 30 minutes into the film, there was the scene where they were walking down the street together; the banter and dialogue (and chemistry) here was great. Wagner, a Hallmark regular, performs great in these types of roles. The supporting cast was very good too. Cassidy Nugent (as Cassie), for example, had a cute performance. The story itself is a heartfelt one and provided a sense of Christmas spirit (it did for me, at least). It is a predictable story of course but engaging, nevertheless. Though to be fair, I did not know who Angel was until the end. Regarding the wish tree, I do think that writers could have done a bit more with the wishes (some more, e.g., nobler wishes). Overall, it is an entertaining Christmas movie, providing some holiday warmth, spirit, and festive cheer. Fans of Hallmark will not be disappointed.

I absolutely love both Jill Wagner and Lucas Bryant and they didn't disappoint.

Jill Wagner plays Rebecca, a writer who writes an article about The Angel Tree from her old home town where a mysterious and anonymous benefactor grants the wishes left on the Angel Tree every year at Christmas. Rebecca's editor bribed her in to trying to find out who the benefactor is and write an article about them...promising that she can write more of the articles that she wants to write about real people if she does. Challenge accepted! Rebecca packs up her daughter (she is a widower) and goes back to her old home town for the first time ever and stays with her aunt. On the first day she runs in to her old best friend, Matthew, who is running his parents diner and doing a coffee roasting business on the side. The two fall back in to an instant affection...they have great chemistry, and are immediately set up on opposing sides as Matthew wants to help keep Angel anonymous. His nephew however joins Rebecca and her daughter on the hunt to solve the Angel mystery.

One interesting wrinkle, Rebecca's article attracts outsiders and the number of wishes appearing on the Angel Tree more than doubles. Rebecca realizes it is more than one person can handle.

"People, in general, just want to believe in something good at Christmas. You know and if you want to call that magic, then yeah they want to believe in magic. And now because of me it is just going to be a big disappointment...unless..."-Rebecca.

Rebecca doesn't want anyone to be disappointed like she was all those years ago when Matthew's wish to save the diner came true, but her wish to stay in town did not, so along with Matthew and quite a few other town members...they start working on granting the wishes.

This was a delightful film that is exactly what Christmas should be about...helping others. I smiled, I laughed, I cried and I thoroughly enjoyed it! Thank you, Hallmark!

Jill and Lucas are the best, I hope there are more opportunities to see these two.

"I know she wants to know your name...but maybe things won't be the same."-Matthew

The impromptu and unique song was the icing and cherry on top of this delicious holiday treat.

Good acting, decent little story, nothing really original or spell binding. I don't regret watching it, but wouldn't watch it again. The song with the guitar was pretty much cringe for me. I wonder if the actor was forced to do that, or if it was actually his idea (shudder). I felt bad that he was captain friend zone through the entire movie until I saw that scene, then it all made sense.