"Lucky Christmas" has an opening that might tempt some to think this won't be a very good film for the holidays. But once it gets past two grown men, Mike and Joe, drinking beer as they toss Joe's family mementos into a barrel fire, the story takes on some new twists and angles with a single mom her young son.

The lucky aspect of this film is a state lottery in Michigan that each week from Thanksgiving to Christmas will pick a winner for one million dollars. The plot develops around that when the singly mom, Holly, has a winning lottery ticket about two weeks before Christmas. But several things happen that keep her from having her ticket to cash in by midnight on Christmas Eve.

These characters will come together, along with a few more, in an unusual and refreshingly different Christmas movie. The three principals in the cast are all very good. Elizabeth Berkley is Holy, Jason Gray-Stanford is Mike, and Michell Kummen plays Holly's son, Max.

This is a good Christmas film about hard work, trust, kindness and family. Most people should enjoy it.

Elizabeth Berkley is once again the freshest thing in an otherwise stale movie, this one made-for-TV. Sorry yuletide concoction attempts to equate car theft, a lottery win, ice hockey and last-chance boy-girl romance with the holiday spirit. Financially-strapped single mom (whose husband disappeared somewhat mysteriously before the story begins) has her car stolen with a special "Christmas lottery ticket" in the glove compartment. Of course the ticket is a winner--worth an underachieving one million dollars--and of course the guy involved in the car-nabbing is a handsome bachelor with a soft spot for struggling moms and their offspring. Berkley actually manages to make her scenes tender and believable, however the rest of this Hallmark Channel presentation is rather bedraggled.

The story is totally predictable. I don't think there was anything the least bit surprising.

The acting and production were also pretty average or maybe a little below for this type of movie. Even the humor lacked any dazzle. Elizabeth Berkley's Holly was very likable and her acting was probably the best for the film. It took me a long time to begin to forgive Mike and if it weren't a Hallmark movie, Holly wouldn't have forgiven him. One big complaint I have is that it is hard to disconnect the fact that she forgave him right when they found the ticket. I'm surprised she didn't clock Joe when he showed up at the door. Joe should not just be fired, but he belongs in jail, at least for a while. Mitchell Kummen did a pretty good job as young Max.

Here's the thing. If you like this kind of movie and don't expect a lot, then you will enjoy it. If you have big expectations, or don't like the Hallmark sappiness, then you won't like this movie.