Ebenezer Scrooge repents, George Bailey is born again and Kevin McCallister says his prayers, pounds two burglars and helps heal a neighbor\u2019s tortured soul.<\/p>\n\n
It\u2019s Christmas at the movies.<\/p>\n\n
Elsewhere in the mall that is America, the Starship Enterprise saves humanity, again, Cruella De Vil chases the latest incarnation of 101 Dalmatians and this year\u2019s workaholic Dad \u2014 Arnold Schwarzenegger as a muscular sequel to Tim Allen \u2014 searches for his inner child.<\/p>\n\n
This, too, is Christmas at the movies.<\/p>\n\n
It\u2019s that magic season when Americans have time and money to splurge at the multiplex. Still, it\u2019s hard to ignore that it\u2019s Christmas, which many still associate with faith and family. The result: movies that define \u201cChristmas spirit\u201d as family-friendly fun, with a dash of lowest-common-denominator spirituality. Throw in some snow, twinkling lights, a hint of the supernatural and at least one reference to Christmas and the package is complete.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cI think Hollywood concedes that it\u2019s good if, at the end of a Christmas movie, people are left with some kind of vague, warm glow,\u201d said Michael Medved, film critic for the New York Post. \u201cPeople are supposed to hug at the end of Christmas movies, as opposed to collapsing from sheer exhaustion, like at the end of summer movies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
While it\u2019s easy to name some movies that are, in fact, about Christmas, there is remarkably little religious content in the films released during this season, said film critic and historian Leonard Maltin of Entertainment Tonight.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cI think of the words `big,\u2019 `expensive\u2019 and `family,\u2019 in about that order,\u201d he said. \u201cThe closest you get to religion in most Christmas movies is a reaffirmation of the Golden Rule. You know, love your neighbor, have a little faith, good will towards men and all of that. \u2026 It\u2019s not going to get deeper than that, because we\u2019re talking about the mass market.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Yet almost every year, someone will go one step further \u2014 beyond \u201choliday\u201d or \u201cChristmas\u201d movie status \u2014 and try to say something about the meaning of the season.<\/p>\n\n
This year\u2019s entry is \u201cThe Preacher\u2019s Wife,\u201d a remake of a 1947 classic \u201cThe Bishop\u2019s Wife.\u201d The film\u2019s stars have made a concerted effort to signal that this isn\u2019t your typical Hollywood take on spirituality.<\/p>\n\n