Those who don't like the film because it's too "contrived and cloying" should go back to commenting on National Lampoon and American Pie fims and let the grown ups talk aboutreal films. Joyeux Noel is fantastic. Christian Carion did his research. He was able to accurately portray a time and place that is difficult for us to understand. He is able to bring out the humanity that exists during a time of war. This is effectively evidenced by the compelling characters that he places before us. Through them we are able to see that the men on both sides were fighting for one thing; the right to go home. A wonderful film. A must see!… Collapse

I have heard about the actual event, and it was captured just as I thought it might have been. As i said when i finished watching it, "it did a lot to restore my faith in the inherent good of humans" Thank you.

Failed to evoke any empathy towards the characters at all. Since the oppression of war or the characters were not built up enough the whole movie makes you rely on your own knowledge of the war to appreciate the beauty of the event although most people who are going to see it probably know enough about the war and probably even this event in particular.

An excellent film. Very well done. And for those who believe it's too "over the top" and schmaltzy, read the actual acounts of this extraordinary event. In many instances, the screenwriter dulled the actual history, lest audiences not believe what they're seeing. The story of the Scottish priest, chastised for not using his religion to support war, was for me the backbone of the film. And a frightening reminder of how zealots of all religions can twist scriptures for their own rotten purposes. A film worth seeing.… Expand

Movie is haunting, sad, poignant, and beautifully done. I didn't find it a bit sappy. I should point out here that although christmas clearly plays a part here, movie doesn't come off as a celebration of christmas, or jesus, or christian values. (and if it had, as a jewish agnostic, I likely would have been turned off) Rather, christmas comes off as the conviant excuse, that the soldiers on both sides could relate to, to stop the insanity. One of the sad parts here is knowing that as haunted and as traumatized as the soldiers on both sides are, this movies takes place in 1914. WW 1 ended in 1918. These soldiers still had almost 4 years of war to go, and many of them would not make it.… Expand

Lots of missing the point here. The movie is about how hard it is to wreak destruction when you don't de-humanize the enemy and the message couldn't be more timely. Nothing schmlatzy at all about that reality. Beautifically acted.

Extraordinarily contrived and cloying, kind of like a Hallmark movie done in a different language. No way should this be a Best Foreign Film nominee.