The uniqueness of the film's three stars (Jack Warden, Stan Shaw, Lou Diamond Phillips) adds to the charm of this holiday TV movie where three mental patients escape from their hospital on Christmas Eve and head out to find the newly born Christ child. Encounters with typical southern California archetypes as they roam around the city are presented in a very charming manner, including applause as they enter the Glendale Gallarria, deal with perfume salesman Charles Nelson Reilly, head to Van Nuys and end up in used car lot owner Vic Tayback's commercial, ultimately heading to Venice Beach, and making record time.
Plot elements I didn't care for was psychiatrist Jane Kaczmarek who recites her lines as if she's in a daze, pointless reporter Tiana Alexandra and flirtatious Tori Spelling, getting her jealous boyfriend angry enough to upset the fragile Phillips. All three men have their issues explained, far from dangerous but able to snap either into screaming or tears at any moment. This explains why they ended up psychiatric patients in the first place, the types people whom Jesus would have searched for to guide. The fact that all three believe in the real reason for Christmas makes this a lot better in my book, and the comic moments don't distract from that.
Plot elements I didn't care for was psychiatrist Jane Kaczmarek who recites her lines as if she's in a daze, pointless reporter Tiana Alexandra and flirtatious Tori Spelling, getting her jealous boyfriend angry enough to upset the fragile Phillips. All three men have their issues explained, far from dangerous but able to snap either into screaming or tears at any moment. This explains why they ended up psychiatric patients in the first place, the types people whom Jesus would have searched for to guide. The fact that all three believe in the real reason for Christmas makes this a lot better in my book, and the comic moments don't distract from that.