A Merry Friggin' Christmas

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As a Robin Williams fan, I'm sad to say that this, one of his last films before he died, was not a good one. This is not the film by which you should remember the late great Robin Williams. It is an affront to his legacy as a great comedian and actor. This is a forgettable film that will forever be overshadowed by his much better performances, and relegated to the dustbin of sub-par forgotten Christmas films, of which there are many. Now I'm not criticizing Williams, I think he was a wonderful actor but this film thoroughly stinks and, well, he signed on to play a role in it. The writing was pretty bad and the dialogue felt forced and unnatural. It felt like the actors were playing parodies of dysfunctional characters from other family films. Joel McHale was very dry and awkward throughout the film. His delivery did not come across as genuine and the scenes where he was supposed to be emotional felt fake. I felt the highlight of the film was actually the interactions between two side characters: Luann played by Lauren Graham, who you know as the mom from Gilmore Girls, and the always delightful Candice Bergen infamously known for her character Murphy Brown. There is a section of the film where these two, annoyed by the antics of their respective spouses, decide to drink until intoxication while reminiscing and goofing off. It is genuinely the highlight of otherwise dreary 88 minute mess.

While the premise is so often overdone, family drama (exploited for comedy), I still had hopes that there would be something here to enjoy. Joel McHale plays the successful son who is embarrassed by his family and moves states away (did that myself!) to avoid the conflict. He is so embarrassed, he cuts his father's picture out of the family portrait. Ouch. Robin Williams and Candice Bergen play the parents who seem to be living through a delusional dysfunction. Neither is given enough room to be funny, and come off looking a bit tired and wishing it was over. I sort of expected the giant Christmas miracle at the end to fulfill the schmaltz, but even that is lacking. The mysterious 'Santa' turns out to be a drunk, homeless guy. Nothing magical about it. I wish they would have played more along the family issues. The family pervert really is just another drunk member of the family. The son with PTSD is really just overly weird as a defense mechanism, and the successful son hates his job and wishes he were an artist. Cue the eye rolling.

"Get in the truck Gladys, we've got Christmas to save." Boyd (McHale) has just learned that he will be spending Christmas with his father Mitch (Williams) and the rest of his family. What should be a happy time becomes stressful for everyone when Boyd realizes that he left his son's presents at home. After his car breaks down Mitch and Boyd set out on a road trip to save Christmas. I've thought of ways to start this review without starting with the obvious but I can't. Robin Williams was my 2nd favorite actor (behind Al Pacino) and I was devastated at the news. That both helps and hurt the movie. I think it helps because (right or wrong) the movie will get more exposure than it probably would have got otherwise. On the other hand it is impossible to watch this without thinking of what happened and that takes you out of the movie. All that said I thought the movie was very funny and I recommend it, but the comedy is hurt knowing that this is one of the last times you will get to see the genius of Robin Williams at work. Seeing him play a crotchety old man paired with the McHale who plays a father trying way to hard is a perfect combination and the chemistry really works. This is one of those movies where things seem to just get worse and worse but at the same time funnier and funnier. Every member of the family adds something different and that makes it very fun to watch. Overall, a movie that is very funny but contains an unintentional tinge of sadness. I give it a B.