KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Siflutter It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Derrick Gibbons An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Allison Davies The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

bigverybadtom It is near Christmastime, and a young widower has six-year-old rambunctious twin boys who drive all the other nannies away with their antics-but Mrs. Merkle appears suddenly and is able to make them behave better. Not by waving a magic wand, but by simple psychology. But she does not deal only with the children.The widower himself is still grieving for his wife, and as a result won't tell his twins about her, nor will he play his piano any more. Mrs. Merkle subtly arranges to get a woman owning a travel agency to meet him, help with a local school pageant and meet her estranged sister.The story works because Mrs. Merkle, as mentioned before, does not use magic, but is able to subtly push people to do things using suggestion and psychology-though she somehow knows information that nobody evidently tells her. Perhaps she uses magic after all? It doesn't really matter. The movie may be routine, clichéd, and predictable, but it succeeds thanks to good performances by the actors and a storyline that is just long and simple enough. Not deeply meaningful, but good family entertainment.

JaynaB This movie opens on a familiar scene of children driving away a string of housekeepers, but that's only one of the plot threads in this heart-warming seasonal movie. There's a lot to like despite the frequently-visited trope of the super-nanny straightening out the chaotic household.What makes it an outstanding example of the concept is not only the highly relatable problems faced by the family - no over-the-top issues here - but the realistic way those problems are brought out and resolved over the course of the film.The young boys are cute and lively but troubled. The way their inner trouble is portrayed is subtle - comments by their teachers and a brief, odd reaction from their father (the handsome and vulnerable James Van der Beek). Nanny predictably fills a void in their lives.She also, predictably, nudges their dad gradually into delivering what his sons need from him, and what he needs from himself. Nanny's mechanism for coaxing Dad out of his funk is the delightful Reba (played by the equally delightfully Erin Karpluk with deftly handled emotional fragility), a local businesswoman with her own problems.The romance felt a bit rushed, especially between the first meeting and the first date, and the nanny's departure was also rapid. Another reviewer complained about the speed of reconciliation in Reba's family but I found it very realistic.In fact, one thing I particularly like was that, instead of the plot benefiting from one of those last-minute miraculous interventions so common in Christmas movies, the 'Christmas Spirit' only nudged, and the humans had plenty of chances to turn away from the inner changes needed to bring the plot to a satisfactory resolution. It felt real and probable, especially as played by Van Der Beek and Karpluk.I'm pretty sure I'll be watching this movie again in future years.

Neil Doyle And amazingly, his name is entirely missing from the IMDb credits for the movie! He's not the only focal point. But JAMES VAN DER BEEK has the principal role in this story about a widower who needs a housekeeper who can deal with his two rambunctious boys--and stumbles across romance with plucky ERIN KARPLUK.Both are hurt from their previous romantic encounters and have to find true love through forgiveness and the machinations of a fairy-tale figure who becomes his housekeeper, nimbly played by DORIS ROBERTS.The Christmas program part of the story is the weakest sequence in the whole made-for-TV movie. But because the cast is refreshingly natural (the two boys are excellent), and because James Van Der Beek is exceptionally sincere as the boy's young father (especially in his scenes with Erin), the predictable tale stays afloat because of the charming way it's told.Recommended viewing around the holidays--even if there is an air of deja vu about the whole thing.

tnmccoy63 Most Christmas movie plots are pretty predictable, and this one is no exception. It has the standard Christmas elements: new nanny; recalcitrant kid/kids; widow/widower; chip---or memory---on the shoulder; mistaken perceptions; happy ending with the girl/boy marrying,or at least dating seriously. It only lacks a 'real' Santa Claus figure in the plot, or maybe a reindeer or two. And despite the hype about the writer, it's just a Christmas oriented 'Nanny McPhee.' Consequently, this is not an impressive work of art for the writer, Debbie Macomber. But, for Christmas movies, it's good. And I've chosen to watch it more than once.