A Merry Friggin’ Christmas                                                              

Director: Tristram Shapeero

Genre: Dark Humor

Summary

It’s Christmas time, and the Mitchler family is forced to stay at Boyd’s in-laws’ house for Christmas. Once arrived, Boyd realizes he forgot his son’s gifts back at home and he is determined to give his son the magical Christmas experience that he did not get to have as a child. Hence, he goes on an 8-hour road trip to retrieve them with his alcoholic father, and they learn things about each other that they had never known about in the past. 

Acting and Cinematography

This is not your typical feel-good holiday romance. It has a deep meaning about family trauma and the importance of love and patience. Despite the heavy topic, the director (Tristram Shapeero) is still able to make it comedic and enjoyable. Although the movie is humorous, it is very chaotic with a depressing plot that left me feeling sad rather than joyful. Especially on Christmas, most people including me, want to feel warm and fuzzy inside, and this movie did not achieve that. 

Despite my opinion on the film itself, the acting was very well done. The actors were able to be authentic with the character’s reactions and emotions, it was believable and very accurate. Even though some of the actors’ past roles were films of different genres, they were still able to pull off these characters. For example, most people know that Lauren Graham plays the witty and energetic character Lorelai Gilmore from Gilmore Girls. In this film, she plays a mother, Luann, who is more serious than Lorelai. Yet, Lauren Graham was still able to make the audience see her as an emotional mother.

A scene I personally like the best in this film is when Boyd realises he forgot his son’s gifts at home. His family calmly suggests buying something at the “One Dollar Store” instead, while Boyd is breaking out into panic. The juxtaposition of the two reactions is hilarious to me. One side is so content, while the other is having a panic attack. This scene is also where his father decides to support his son, and drive all the way back to retrieve the gifts. This impacts me in a way where things in life are sometimes a mess, but in the chaos there is always optimism, like how the father still supported his son in a time of need.

Rating

Although I would not watch this movie again, it was certainly a touching and humorous experience. I would recommend this movie to people who want a good laugh while they’re going through a tough situation. This movie shows distress and humour at the same time, which might relate to someone’s exact experience and will therefore enjoy the movie.

On a scale from 1 being the worst, and 5 being the best, I would give this movie a 3 out of 5. This is because I personally did not get a happy feeling throughout, and after the movie.