Movie Review: Silent Night (2002)

Silent Night (2002) directed by Rodney Gibbons

On Christmas Eve in 1944, a trio of Americans is lost in a snow storm on the French/German front of the Battle of the Bulge. They stumble upon a cabin in the woods where a German mother (Linda Hamilton) and her 8-10 year old son Fritz (Matthew Harbour) are living. One of the soldiers has a badly-injured leg, so the Americans barge in and commandeer a bedroom. The mother insists that they leave their weapons outside which the Americans are naturally reluctant to do. The private leaves his rifle unattended and Fritz hides the weapon, following his mother's instructions. She manages to convince the other soldier to surrender his weapon. As they are tending to the wound and getting firewood from an outside shed, three German soldiers show up. The Americans bluff their way into getting the Germans to surrender their weapons. The mother gets those put away too, forcing an uneasy truce. What follows is some predictable but entertaining drama as the eight people wind up sharing a Christmas Eve dinner together.

The plot is based on a true story and the movie was produced by Hallmark, so I was a little trepidatious going into it. The actors do a good job and the story beats have enough suspense to make it interesting. I wound up liking it a lot more than I thought I would. The Germans start off a little bit one-dimensional but as everyone reveals more about themselves and their backgrounds, a very human story unfolds. This was a fun Christmas watch.

Mildly recommended--this didn't earn any awards but it did earn my respect!