The Christmas Clock

In this yuletide yawner, young Teddy Winters is being raised by his grandmother, Lottie, who is stricken with Alzheimer’s. While she seeks a guardian for her grandson, two Dreyerville couples overcome their own obstacles: the Culvers have been married for decades, but they have let a distance grow between them. Meanwhile, Joe Dixon and Sylvia Winters were young lovers, but they let secrets tear them apart. With Christmas just around the corner, these six people’s lives intersect as they struggle for second chances at marriage, love and family. It’s standard-issue sentimental holiday fare, peopled with wholesome and one-dimensional caricatures, though, notably, there’s no late-book miracle. It has plenty of competition with other seasonal titles, and there’s little to distinguish this from the others. (Oct.)