Christmas Magic

Carrie Blackford is a high-powered, cynical event planner in New York City who lives for her career and her rivalry with a fellow planner named Lynette. While driving to a meeting and arguing with Lynette on her cell phone, Carrie hits a patch of black ice and suffers a horrific car accident. She awakens in Central Park to find a man named Henry, who explains that she has 'passed over' and is now an angel-in-training. To earn her way into Heaven, she must help Scott Walker, a man Henry claims needs guidance. Scott is a widower raising his daughter, Abby, while struggling to keep his restaurant afloat. He has abandoned his passion for music and hates Christmas because his wife died on Christmas Eve five years prior. Carrie uses her professional expertise to help Scott, suggesting he replace his bland menu with his father's secret BBQ recipes. She also secures him a high-profile catering gig for an eccentric artist named Dimitri, which she brands as 'The New American Classic.' During her time with the family, Abby intuitively realizes that Carrie is an angel, though Scott remains oblivious. As the restaurant begins to succeed, Carrie and Scott develop deep feelings for one another, but Carrie is hampered by the 'angel rules' which forbid her from revealing her identity or contacting her former life. The conflict peaks when Scott goes on a date with Carrie's rival, Lynette, who reveals that Carrie Blackford isn't actually dead, but is in a coma on life support at a local hospital. Henry eventually reveals his true identity to the audience: he is Scott's deceased father. He explains that the mission was as much about Carrie finding 'perspective' as it was about helping Scott. In the climax, Carrie's estranged father prepares to sign the papers to take her off life support, believing there is no hope. Scott and Abby rush to the hospital to stop him. In the spiritual realm, Henry gives Carrie a choice: enter the light for eternal peace or return to the earthly plane, which offers no guarantees of serenity but includes the love of Scott and Abby. Hearing Scott play the song he wrote for her, Carrie chooses to return. she wakes from her coma, reconciles with her father, and begins a new life with Scott and Abby, realizing that the 'secret ingredient' to both BBQ and life is love.