Hallmark Entertainment, Holiday Productions, JAWO Productions
Patty Duke, Piper Laurie, Jeffrey DeMunn, Anita Gillette, Julia McIlvaine, Esther Scott, Eric Lloyd
Another Truman Capote story made into a Christmas film. This time Buddy’s parents split and Buddy was sent to live with a bunch of old maid cousins. He becomes especially close to Sook, who though much older, is not very bright and is kind of like a kid herself. They have a lot of adventures together. But as time passes, the older cousins think maybe it’s better if Buddy lives somewhere else.
I know there must be Truman Capote lovers out there who are going to think I’m an idiot for giving a low score to a piece of classic literature, and such high marks to “Ernest Saves Christmas“, but I can assure you which I’d rather spend 2 hours watching. This film just doesn’t do it for me either. This is a lot better story than “One Christmas” and the characters are a little better. Patty Duke really tries hard to do right by Sook, the somewhat dimwitted cousin, and Buddy is just Buddy. But the other cousins, especially Piper Laurie’s Jennie, are really mean and unlikable. This is a Christmas movie that to me is just plain boring. I never get into it, and I can never really care about any of the characters.
** A Christmas Memory (1997),
