Christmas Oranges is a well produced film and tells a compelling story of an orphan's early life and struggles, and how she, through the kindness and compassion she learned from her first caretaker, touched the lives and hearts of others.

There are many child actors, and I can only imagine the challenges in producing a movie with many children. They, however, do a fine job in their roles, and fairly convincingly portray their characters. The overall plot is compelling and generally easy to follow, although it can be a a little slow paced at times.

Sometimes I felt that the screenplay was a little too melodramatic, and it did take away some of the realism for me. Perhaps it is just my experience but I sometimes wonder if people can truly treat children so poorly at times. Like when poor Rose was being taken from her first orphanage, alone, to another one by someone who was just so one dimensionally detestable and without heart. That seemed a little over the top. But it does help to portray just how difficult a transition like that could be.

One other plot point that generally confused me was this - why was Mr. Crampton running the orphanage himself for the most part, even though his brother Joe supposedly owned half of it? What made him "more in charge" than his brother, and why did his brother live so close by and not seem to have much control over how the orphanage was run? Sometimes it almost seemed like, although Joe was so nice to the children, he also wasn't taking the responsibility for the orphanage like he could or should have. Maybe the short story makes this clearer, but it was not really explained in the movie.

A little more backstory on Mr. Crampton's falling out with his daughter, or even a flashback, would have been nice, and could have likely been worked into the same running time if some of the pacing of other parts of the story were improved.

Despite these nits, it is an enjoyable and inspiring movie, and we could all do well to be as kind and forgiving as Rose when we experience challenges in our lives. The true Spirit of Christmas.