Sunday, December 22, 2019

The Gift of the Magi 2010

     This film is a version of the 1905 O. Henry story, The Gift of the Magi.  Jim and Della Young are a newly wedded couple.  They can barely afford to move into their new apartment and their second-hand car breaks down.  They make an agreement that they will not buy any Christmas presents this year!  Jim and Della both go against the agreement and they decide to secretly buy one gift to give each other.  They will each earn extra cash so Jim can spoil Della and Della can spoil Jim. 
     Both of the members of this new couple are making sacrifices for each other.  They go out of their way to get a special gift that their spouse really wants more than anything.  It will be even more appreciated because they are not expecting to get anything!!  But, some complications arise because they are keeping secrets from each other?   

 
85 min, Drama directed by Lisa Mulcahy with Marla Sokoloff, Mark Webber, Michelle Beamish, Glynis Casson, Tony Devon, Thomas Grube, Gary Hetzler, Eamonn Hunt, Roisin Kiely, Gerry McCann, Barry McGovern, Clelia Murphy, Helen Norton, Scott Paschall, Donna Patrice.


Note:  Rotten Tomatoes 21% audience with 37 ratings, Imdb 5.5*  with 458 reviews, Amazon 4.4* out of 5* with 56 ratings, dov.org, age 12+, 1* sex, 2* drugs, 1* other (a lie), Goodreads gives the book 4.09* with 78,518 ratings and 1,684 reviews, Letterboxd 3* out of 5*.


Special Note:  Filmed in Ireland.  There is a mixup in the last name of the newlyweds?  In the credits, they have the last name Young but in the movie it is Alexander?  More than a dozen adaptations of the O. Henry story have been filmed!!  This is a modern version with some extra twists.  O. Henry was a private man who hardly gave interviews and was extremely guarded about his past.   It is known that he was devoted to his wife Athol.  They married young and they were poor.  They lived in rented cottages while he worked as a banker.   

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