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.

With Christmas Eve just around the corner in bustling New York, five lonely and sad strangers find their lives inadvertently intersected.