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The Christmas Train

The Christmas Train

Family · TV Movie · Drama · 2017

Forced to take the intercontinental trip to Los Angeles by train, and determined to chronicle his adventure, disillusioned journalist Tom Langdon finds himself westbound with a variety of characters. While all passengers on the Christmas train appear to be headed for the same destination, Tom has no idea that the rugged locomotives taking him across America will instead detour straight into his heart.

Movie details

The Christmas Train

2017 Family · TV Movie · Drama 1h 38m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.4 / 10

Community rating

Forced to take the intercontinental trip to Los Angeles by train, and determined to chronicle his adventure, disillusioned journalist Tom Langdon finds himself westbound with a variety of characters. While all passengers on the Christmas train appear to be headed for the same destination, Tom has no idea that the rugged locomotives taking him across America will instead detour straight into his heart.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Christmas Train?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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A Royal Christmas

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The Color of Friendship

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Christmas in Evergreen

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Romance · 2017

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Northern Lights of Christmas

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Drama · 2018

Zoey Hathaway has been working towards her lifelong goal of being a pilot for years, but everything is thrown off-course when she unexpectedly inherits a reindeer farm, along with the dangerously handsome ranch hand Alec Wynn. Now buried in taking care of reindeer and all the Christmas responsibilities, Zoey thinks life has delivered her a strange and cumbersome blow, and she isn’t sure about Alec, who has his own ideas how best to run things. Alec, who has never had many people have faith in him, opens up when Zoey invests trust in him, and the two find themselves falling for each other. Could they both find happiness in the most unlikely of circumstances right before Christmas?

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Ron Oliver

Written by

Neal H. Dobrofsky · Tippi Dobrofsky

Dermot Mulroney

Dermot Mulroney

Tom Langdon

Kimberly Williams-Paisley

Kimberly Williams-Paisley

Eleanor Carter

Danny Glover

Danny Glover

Max Powers

Joan Cusack

Joan Cusack

Agnes

Holly Dignard

Holly Dignard

Lelia

Kirsten Zien

Kirsten Zien

Julie

Anthony Konechny

Anthony Konechny

Steve

Court is in session

Put The Christmas Train on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.