Secret of Giving

Reba McEntire is not one for holding back on the sentiment and emotion as any who witness her polished and slick stage shows can aver.Here she goes for the emotional jugular vein in a Christmas themed TV Western.She plays a single mother struggling to raise a child and keep up payments on her ranch in a small,economically depressed Oregon township She is heavily in debt-to the doctor for the medication required by her ailing son ;to the bank and the local hotelier.The banker -played well by veteran Ronny Cox-is employing rustlers to run off her cattle so she will default on the loan and he can get his grasping avaricious hands on the property The movie relates her struggle to overcome all odds by dint of hard work and enterprise not to mention a handsome stranger with a past and some helpful Chinese. Its all a bit rosy-hued and soft centred but Reba clearly believes in the message and looks comfortable in the role which may have evoked some memories of her own ranching childhood in its theme of redemption through goodwill its a bit Dickensian but not in the same class naturally

A perfectly adequate time passer.