Dir:Chazz Palminteri. US. 2004. 96mins.

Animmensely talented cast is mostly wasted in Noel,actor Chazz Palminteri's inauspicious directorial debut. Sadly, this feel-goodfilm, set at Christmas in New York (that old movie stand-by), never rises muchabove made-for-TV fare, despite the high-voltage actors who populate it.

Stalwarts like Susan Sarandon, PenelopeCruz, and an uncredited Robin Williams act their hearts out, but the script isso uninspired and sentimental that it's all for naught. The film's banality issignaled even in the utter flatness of its title.

Noel features three occasionallyintersecting stories, some of which are more incoherent and implausible thanothers.

Inthe one that makes the most sense, even if it is a cliche, Sarandon is a lonely,divorced middle-aged publisher caring for her mother, who's stricken withAlzheimer's, and thus unable to respond to the romantic advances of the companystud.

Thesecond story features Paul Walker as Mike, a cop who is insanely jealous of hisfiancee Nina (Cruz), who, in turn, has increasing difficulty trying to livewith his need to control her. Mike's redemption comes at the hands of adisturbed old man (Arkin), who is finally able to obtain the forgiveness hehimself has needed for two decades.

Theleast well-sketched plot concerns a young man (Thomas), abused as a child (asis revealed at the end), who makes a drastic choice to put himself in anemergency room in a failed effort to recapture the only happiness he's everknown.

Thethree stories disconcertingly appear and disappear in an often very awkwardmanner and never really come together except through the gross application ofthe sappiest of themes.

Muchof the film's dialogue and situations are cynically shot through with a lot ofsuperficially nasty business purporting to be anti-Christmas sentimentality.However, it's all there really to establish ultimately that Christmas is indeeda special time and that what we really all need to do is to begin to take careof each other and that all will be well. Predictably, mushy music fills thescore from beginning to end.

Thescript is filled with a number of mild reversals, as though to make up for theweakness of the writing overall - filled as it is with nearly preposteroussituations and unconvincing characters who have been carefully but artificially'individualised' - but these reversals are never powerful enough tomake the audience care.

Revelationsabout the past are dangled and, for long periods, annoyingly withheld. The'normal' American male's legendary homophobia is played to the hilt,and the gay jokes, especially in the story about the cops, are endlessly,boringly repeated.

Bythe end, Noel resorts to miracles and the kind of 'touched by anangel' phenomenon that is so prevalent in American popular culture thesedays. Those who have given themselves over to the fundamentally unconvincingpremises laboriously laid down will surely find these moments powerfullytouching, but those who haven't most definitely won't.

Prod cos: Convex Group, Neverland Films
Int'l sales: CapitolFilms
Exec prods: JonathanDana, Jeff Arnold, Dan Adler
Prods: BartRosenblatt, Al Corley, Eugene Musso, Howard Rosenman
Scr: David Hubbard
Cine: RussellCarpenter
Prod des: Carol Spier
Ed: Susan E Morse
Music: Alan Menken
Main cast: PenelopeCruz, Susan Sarandon, Paul Walker, Alan Arkin, Marcus Thomas, Robin Williams