Prancer

Jessica is nine and lives on an apple farm. Her mother is dead; her father is trying to keep the farm going alone and is in debt. He is thinking of sending his daughter to a relative. Jessica believes in Father Christmas. One day she finds an injured reindeer in the woods. One of the decorations in the town has fallen and been damaged; she decides this one is real and names him Prancer. She hides him in the barn and tries to heal him. If her father finds out he will sell the animal. John D. Hancock directs. Rebecca Harrell plays Jessica and Sam Elliott her father; Cloris Leachman and Rutanya Alda are in the cast. It is an American production. The matter it treats is not belief but economics; the farm is close to going under and the child's insistence sits on that ground. The narrative uses the shape of a Christmas film but builds no sweet world; the poverty is shown directly. The father Sam Elliott plays looks hard and loveless; the narrative does not entirely soften him at the end either. A newspaper story turns the direction of the narrative and the town becomes involved. It was shot with a real reindeer and the animal scenes were held long. The film drew interest on release and became a Christmas fixture over the years. Its limit is predictability; the outcome is clear and the emotional steering high. Who it is for: viewers who like Christmas films and family drama. Who it is not for: the emotional dose is high, the pace slow, and the ending too tidy.