Maggie's Christmas Miracle
Maggie's Christmas Miracle is a Christmas film originally broadcast on the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Channel in 2017. The film is based on the book Maggie's Miracle (the second of her Red Gloves series) by Karen Kingsbury.
Plot
The Christmas season of 1997 was both the best and worst experience of Maggie's life. As a 13-year-old, while vacationing with her family at the "Lake Tahoe Lodge", Maggie meets Kade, who believes in Christmas miracles, experiencing teenage love for the first time. However, during their vacation Maggie's father abandons the family, leaving her mother devastated.
20 years later Maggie is divorced with a young son, Jordan. His father dies, also around Christmas time, leaving Maggie to not believe in Christmas miracles. Moreover, she becomes a workaholic and extremely overprotective of Jordan, not wanting him to be hurt like she and her mother were.
Jordan begins failing at school; Maggie is convinced to hire Casey Cummings, owner of a local diner/gift shop who also volunteers as a math tutor through a local charity, to help him. Casey (a widower himself, his wife died from cancer) and Jordan hit it off immediately; Jordan's grades dramatically improve.
Jordan wishes that Casey could be his dad; he sees a glass etching of a stick figure family while visiting Casey's diner. He also writes a letter to God asking if a man can be a father if he has no children of his own. Casey also begins to fall in love with Maggie. But Maggie rejects his advances, sharing with him the stories of Lake Tahoe and the death of Jordan's father at Christmastime.
On Christmas Eve Maggie, her mother, and Jordan unwrap presents. Jordan receives from Casey the glass etching; Maggie receives a snow globe from Casey (an avid collector) with a nameplate reading "MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE LAKE TAHOE LODGE". Later Casey leaves Jordan's letter at their doorstep; Maggie reads it and rushes to Casey's house.
Casey has one last present for Maggie: a pair of red gloves and a picture of a teenage Maggie and a teenage Kade in a photo booth. Casey was, in fact, Kade (he never changed his name but people began to call him Casey and it stuck); he did not realize his prior connection until Maggie shared her experience at Lake Tahoe. The two (with the help of Billy, the diner's owner) get the last Christmas tree in town and set it up for Jordan.
Cast
- Jill Wagner ... Maggie
- Luke Macfarlane ... Casey AKA Kade
- Lauren Guci ... Jordan
- Laura Soltis ... Terri
- Viv Leacock ... Billy G.
- Lane Edwards ... Tanner
- Françoise Yip ... Lauren
- Kelsey Kupecky ... Martha
- Kelsey is the oldest child, and only daughter, of Karen Kingsbury.
- Jordyn Ashley Olson ... Young Maggie
- Marcus Zane Carvalho ... Young Kade
- Natalie King ... Teacher
- Glynis Davies ... Mrs. Deely
- Patricia Cullen ... Customer #1
- Chris Shields ... Distinguished Partner
- Andrea Agur ... Young Woman
- Scott Perrie ... Male Singer
Differences between the book and the film
- In the book Maggie's father leaves the family before the family's vacation to Lake Tahoe, and they go to a private home. In the film he leaves during the vacation, which is held at a lodge.
- In the book Maggie and Kade meet in the summer, and Kade identifies himself as the son of a minister. In the film (to keep with the theme of Maggie being hurt at Christmastime) the two meet in winter, and (to keep with the secular theme) nothing is mentioned about Kade's family.
- In the book Jordan's father dies but no specified date or season is given. In the film it is depicted that Jordan's father dies around Christmastime (to keep with the theme of Maggie repeatedly being hurt during that season).