Additionally Identified As: Christmas With The Coopers
Director: Jessie Nelson
Starring: Diane Keaton, John Goodman, Marisa Tomei, Alan Arkin, Amanda Seyfried, Timothée Chalamet, Ed Helms, Jake Lacy, Anthony Mackie, June Squibb, Olivia Wilde
Working Time: 107 minutes
Synopsis: Christmas Eve is approaching, and 4 generations of the imperfect Cooper household are gathering for dinner. Sam and Charlotte (John Goodman and Diane Keaton) are internet hosting but additionally hiding their disintegrating marriage. Their black sheep daughter Eleanor (Olivia Wilde) meets a soldier (Jake Lacy) on the airport. The Cooper’s divorced son (Ed Helms) is combating unemployment, whereas his teenaged son (Timothée Chalamet) is pursuing his first crush on the mall. Charlotte’s sister (Marisa Tomei) is arrested for shoplifting and has an encounter with a police officer (Anthony Mackie), whereas Charlotte’s father Bucky (Alan Arkin) has an argument along with his common diner server (Amanda Seyfried).
What Works Nicely: With notable dedication, this Christmas film seeks a contrarian stance, avoiding feel-good vibes and zooming in on all that’s mistaken with the lives of the Coopers. Charlotte is doing her greatest to faux and get on with the Christmas spirit, however all of the relations are flailing as their character faults and life failures are revealed. The easy message of celebrating regular imperfection is easy and well-intentioned, and the opening two thirds provide the added enjoyment of guessing all of the household connections. The standard forged and quite a few mini-plots make sure the film by no means dawdles in anyone place for too lengthy.
What Does Not Work As Nicely: After lots of onerous work to symbolize flawed characters, the resolutions run away from troublesome outcomes and simply give up to conventional endings. With so many tales to inform, a number of the extra attention-grabbing secondary characters, notably Amanda Seyfried’s diner server and Anthony Mackie’s police officer, are shortchanged.
Key Quote:
Bucky: That feeling such as you’ve landed within the mistaken life. All people feels that method.
