Santa Claus assigns the Christmas angel Gideon (Harry Dean Stanton) to restore the Christmas spirit of Ginny Grainger (Mary Steenburgen), the mother of Cal (Robbie Magwood) and Abbie (Elisabeth Harnois). Her husband Jack (Gary Basaraba) has been out of work for six months, and they must vacate their company-owned house by the new year. Jack fixes bikes as a hobby and dreams of opening his own bike shop, which would use up all the family savings. Ginny works as a grocery store cashier.