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The Noel Diary

The Noel Diary

Romance · Comedy · Drama · 2022

Cleaning out his childhood home at Christmas, a novelist meets a woman searching for her birth mother. Will an old diary unlock their pasts — and hearts?

Movie details

The Noel Diary

2022 Romance · Comedy · Drama 1h 39m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.3 / 10

Community rating

Cleaning out his childhood home at Christmas, a novelist meets a woman searching for her birth mother. Will an old diary unlock their pasts — and hearts?

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Noel Diary?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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A California Christmas: City Lights

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Christmas in the Air

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Christmas in Evergreen

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Romance · 2017

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Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Charles Shyer

Written by

Charles Shyer · Rebecca Connor · David Golden

Justin Hartley

Justin Hartley

Jacob Turner

Barrett Doss

Barrett Doss

Rachel Campbell

Bonnie Bedelia

Bonnie Bedelia

Ellie Foster

Essence Atkins

Essence Atkins

Noel Hayden

James Remar

James Remar

Scott Turner

Aaron Costa Ganis

Aaron Costa Ganis

Matt Segreto

Jeff Corbett

Jeff Corbett

Ian Page

Court is in session

Put The Noel Diary on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.