A Season for Miracles is a suspenseful drama that will leave you believing in angels. It is anything but the "typical" Christmas movie.

Emilie Thompson (Carla Gugino) drops everything to travel from Georgia to Rhode Island to take care of her sister's children while her sister is in jail for drugs. But the kids' social worker with child services, Ruth Doyle (Kathy Baker), says the children must be placed in a foster home until Emilie gets a job, home and bank account.

Emilie takes Alanna (Mae Whitman) and JT (Evan Sabara), heads toward Atlanta, and ends up in a tiny town called Bethelehem, where a series of miracles begin to happen. First, she is nudged toward an empty house near the square -- a house that is guarded by an angel -- by a friendly waitress (Patty Duke).

Emilie plans to spend the night and be gone at first light, but her car will not run. Then she is mistaken for the woman that has recently inherited the house. The two sisters across the street, Agatha (Mary Fogarty) and Corinna (Mary Louise Wilson) are eager to help her get settled in. They call the electric company and get the utilities turned on. Then they beg her to let them babysit while she works to earn the $800 she needs for car repairs.

Police Captain Nathan Blair (David Conrad), who spent too many years as a big-city cop, takes a special interest in Emilie and soon announces that he is falling in love with her and wants her to stay. But he is suspicious of her and has been checking into her background. She knows it is only a matter of time until she is found out. But always when you need a car repaired quickly, the parts must be special ordered and will take time to arrive. Time is the one thing Emilie really does not have.

This movie is well worth the purchase price just for the court scene with Lynn Redgrave as the disgruntled judge who just wants to get back to her Christmas Eve dinner.

A Season for Miracles keeps you engrossed from beginning to end. You know how the story has to end, but that darned angel (Duke) keeps on messing up the orderly predictability of things. It keeps you in suspense and surprises you often, all the way through. This is an excellent writing job. The suspense is terrific!

All the roles were played quite well. There is not one character that is not totally believable.

Everything about A Season for Miracles is excellent. It is one of the movies that I look forward to watching each holiday season.