Writer: Dearden
Are we in a better mood than most holiday seasons, or are we
just mentally imbalanced? This is the second movie that we’ve seen this holiday
season that has gotten picked apart by critics (and, in most cases, audiences)
that we have enjoyed.
The basic set-up of the plot, admittedly, is rather lazy:
Rich relatives from America come to visit English relatives in a run-down
cottage in the British countryside. Thankfully, though, the humor is (usually)
much more than just watching rich characters complain about stepping in cow
manure, or seeing live chickens running around (although there is plenty of that, too).
I will say that it does bite off a little bit more than it
can chew: It feels as if writer/director James Dearden pictured a whole TV
series based around it, and set out to fill the story with as many different
intricacies as possible. That’s probably the movie’s weakest characteristic:
for taking place on Christmas (and Boxing Day), there’s very little actual
Christmas in it. Instead, it’s more the study of a dysfunctional family trying
to keep things together, that just so happens to be based around Christmastime. And by having so many different characters involved in the plot, there are such large gaps between seeing some of them that we forget they're even a part of the movie.
The cast pulls things off marvelously, and once again,
they’re the biggest reason we liked this movie as much as we did. Michael
Landes is perfect as Trent, the rich douchebag who’s looking to sleep with
anything he can—even if it’s not his wife; Joely Richardson is great as Lyla,
Miranda’s sister, and a successful actress who may not be as successful—or as
happy—as we originally think; and Gemma
Whelan is great as Miranda, Lyla’s sister, and the beneficiary of the country
house via her father’s will.
Maybe we’re just desensitized to cheesy holiday romance
movies, and the sudden switch to a more straightforward comedy was a welcome
change from the norm; whatever the reason, we enjoyed our time trying to
survive this Christmas. There’s nothing new or unique—even a lot of the jokes
are predictable—but but it’s all done pretty well, and sold by a cast that is
uniformly above average.
With a little bit of trimmings (on the cutting room floor, not on the dinner table), this could have been a much more focused, much more enjoyable movie.
OVERALL RATING: 6/10
TRAILER
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