TV REVIEW : ‘The Christmas Box’ a Timeless Tale

“The Christmas Box,” on CBS Sunday night, isn’t quite in a league with Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” but its touching tale of redemption is appealing enough to guarantee that it will be around for many seasons to come.

Based on the best-selling book by Richard Paul Evans, “The Christmas Box” is the story of a man who has gotten his priorities confused. Richard Evans has been making empty promises to his wife, Keri, and daughter, Jenna, assuring them that they will move out of their small apartment soon to have a “real life.” His preoccupation with his business, however, forces him to spend long hours away from home, and the promised lifestyle change is continuously delayed.

When Keri locates an opportunity to live in a large mansion in exchange for domestic help for its owner, an elderly widow named Mary, Richard reluctantly agrees. But the relationship between Richard and Mary is quickly filled with constant, often inexplicable flashpoints. Richard begins to devote more time to his expanding business and has difficulty sleeping, repeatedly awakened by recurring dreams.

His isolation increases when Keri, Jenna and Mary start to come together like a family. Then, when the mysterious sounds of a music box draw Richard to the attic, he finds a beautiful, hand-crafted Christmas box and begins his discovery--not unlike Ebenezer Scrooge’s--of the redemptive powers of family, love and, above all, the first gift of Christmas.

Emmy-winning Richard Thomas manages the key role of Richard with characteristic ease, overcoming the script’s failure to adequately rationalize his workaholic qualities. Annette O’Toole, as Keri, and Kelsey Mulrooney, as Jenna, are equally convincing. But it is Maureen O’Hara’s richly textured portrayal of Mary that ultimately makes the story come alive.

The dysfunctional family aspects of “The Christmas Box” provide a kind of contemporary sheen to what is essentially a timeless tale, and the enigma of Richard’s dreams adds just enough tension to keep the drama moving. It was directed with great concern for detail by Marcus Cole from a script by Greg Taylor, and produced by Beth Polson.

* “The Christmas Box” airs Sunday at 9 p.m. on CBS (Channel 2).