Susan Sarandon must have been full of the wrong kind of yuletide spirit when she signed up for this indie drama. She's prominent among a semi-starry line-up that includes Paul Walker, Penélope Cruz and (an uncredited) Robin Williams as despairing New Yorkers whose lonely lives intertwine in the most unlikely of ways. It's a premise so well-trodden by low-budget film-makers that it's almost become a genre all of its own. Unfortunately, writer David Hubbard adds nothing particularly original to the concept, except to set the action on Christmas Eve and then throw in a couple of jarring twists from out of the blue. Director Chazz Palminteri (best known for playing Mafia hoods in films such as Bullets over Broadway and A Bronx Tale) tries to build a case for modern miracles, but half-baked revelations and saccharine sentiment are tough to swallow and tedious to watch. This is surely the true demeaning of Christmas.