MovieChat Forums > The Christmas Card (2006) Discussion > Liddy

Liddy

posted 15 years ago by scully123
3 replies | jump to latest

I love this movie - so picturesque and the Spelman family is so wonderful. I own it on DVD so I've watched it a bunch of times. There are always little inconsistencies in movies - they don't usually bother me - but one thing in this movie bugs me every time I watch it. Cody is sent to Nevada City to see Jonesy's girlfriend (his superior says "widow" but not sure how they got married since Jonesy was killed right after he told Cody about setting a wedding date) and give her his dog tags.

While in Nevada City, Cody decides to also seek out the person who sent him the card (who supposedly belonged to the same church as Jonesy) and ends up staying with her and her family. But he never mentions Jonesy or Liddy to the Spelman's or ever goes to visit Liddy again to see how she is doing. Nevada City appears to be a fairly small town so how come Liddy is never shown at church or anywhere? The movie just forgets about her and Jonesy and the reason Cody came to Nevada City in the first place. Wouldn't the Spelman's have known Jonesy if he belonged to the same small church?

It's mentioned several times later on in the movie that the card from Faith (or Faith herself) brought him to Nevada City which is not entirely true. I just thought it was odd that Cody wouldn't have mentioned his friend who had died and was from the same town to the family - especially Luke since he told him about the card.

[–] Val-El 15 years ago

maybe he attended a different place of worship? or none at all?

also, perhaps the colonel meant 'impending' widow?

[–] dltfgd 8 years ago

That part bothered me too. In addition to what you said, the picture of Liddy showed her wearing the same exact sweater that she was wearing when Cody came to give her the dog tags. Wouldn't you think they had a different outfit for that scene? Also she certainly got close to Cody touching cheek to cheek while hugging him. I think that was a bit too intimate in my opinion unless the story was going to end up with them falling for each other instead of him getting involved with Faith.

[–] SHJ-BVM 7 years ago

I know I am coming into this thread late, but I do want to interject my two cents-worth.

First, I'll tackle the sweater "issue". When I find a shirt/sweater or pair of pants I like, I usually buy several but in different colors. The sweater in the pic appears to be a tan color, where-as the sweater she's wearing when she meets Cody appears to be a green (of sorts).

Second is the comment by Cody's senior officer. Knowing that Jones was engaged, the S.O. perceived Liddy to be a "widow", even though they weren't legally married. When an unwed soldier is killed all personal effects are given to the next of kin; children first (if there are any), then parents, then siblings. The fact that all Liddy was given was Jones' dog tags, leads me to truly believe the S.O. wanted her, as the betrothed, to at least have "something" of Jones's.

Thirdly, the Jones'y "hometown" issue. My hometown is located in NY (no need to know exactly where); there is a church there that does send out Christmas cards to the troops. I haven't lived there in 37 years, but it is still my hometown. When Jones tells Cody the card came from the church in his hometown (Nevada City) does not mean that's where he was currently living (prior to deployment). Odds are (unless he was National Guard or Reserves), the town he was living in before deployment definitely WASN"T his hometown. Thus, Jones'y and Liddy lived somewhere other than Nevada City. Also, the S.O. made Cody take R&R (minimally two weeks, probably a month or two); so Cody flies back stateside (2 days); travels to wherever to give Liddy the dogtags (would be somewhere within a days drive of whatever airport he flew into)...this only accounts for 3 maybe 4 days at most. So he goes to "find" Faith in Nevada City. The R&R angle also works for Cody staying with the Spelman's through the holidays.

Patricia