The casting of sepulchral Harry Dean Stanton as an angel from Heaven may seem somewhat eccentric. But, like pretty well everything else in this emotive fantasy, it comes off. Cleverly directed for the Disney studio by Phillip Borsos, who also made The Grey Fox, it hands Mary Steenburgen a plum role as the mum, who, like James Stewart in It's a Wonderful Life, hits a low ebb at Christmas. She's terrific.

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