"'Christmas in the Clouds' [IMDB Entry] may not be destined to be as beloved as such classics as 'A Christmas Story' or � dare I say its name? � 'It's A Wonderful Life,' but as holiday-themed, family-friendly entertainment goes, 'Christmas in the Clouds' is an enjoyable, spunky little holiday movie.

[E. Emmet] Walsh is cast as a boorish, drunken, non-tipping travel writer assigned to arrive incognito at a ski resort run by Native Americans in reality, the famed Sundance resort; 'Christmas in the Clouds' is the first film since 'Butch Cassidy' that Redford has permitted to be shot on his Utah property. In the course of his stay he comes to understand The Meaning of Life after experiencing bingo � a major pastime on the rez � and the life-saving friendship of the film's narrator, the tribe's retired chief, Joe Clouds on Fire Sam Vlahos.

Other interesting supporting actors include Graham Greene, cast here as the resort's temperamental chef; the singer Rita Coolidge, as the mother of the film's romantic heroine; and male model Steve Sandalis, the bohunk who has graced the covers of more than 700 romance novels and appears here in fantasy sequences of torrid embraces with the resort's bespectacled PR manager Sheila Tousey.

At the center of the plot are the young and attractive romantic leads, Tim Vahale as Ray Clouds on Fire son of the narrator and general manager of the struggling ski resort and Mariana Tosca as Christina Little Hawk. In screwball comedy fashion, mistaken identity takes center stage; she thinks he's someone else and vice versa. As romance blossoms, their verbal miscommunications are worthy of classic comedies of the '30s and '40s."

Get the Story:
'Christmas in the Clouds ' an early holiday treat (The Santa Cruz Sentinel 11/4)

Relevant Links:
Christmas in the Clouds - http://www.christmasintheclouds.com