A Sudden Case of Christmas

This Christmas comedy from Peter Chelsom is a remake of the 2022 Italian film Improvvisamente Natale.

Abbie (Lucy DeVito) and Jacob (Wilmer Valderrama) are a couple on the brink of separation. They take their daughter Claire to her grandfather's Lawrence (Danny DeVito) hotel in the Italian mountains in August.

Only Claire senses what is about to happen and wants to celebrate Christmas in August. Lawrence and his loyal employee Otto go about making sure they have one last family Christmas.

They are joined by Jacob's parents who are also facing a marital crisis.

Peter Chelsom once had a promising directing career in small scale British movies such as Hear My Song and Funny Bones. It all grinded to a halt with the disastrous Warren Beatty film Town and Country in 2001.

He has never got his mojo back. Even though this is a remake, A Sudden Case of Christmas is a poor film that wastes Danny Devito. Not really Christmassy, not aimed at a family audience and not funny.

The whole theme is great, and it sort of hit me because I felt similar as Claire when I was 7, last of the "classic" family christmas I had with the whole family, after which my mom took me away and christmas, my favorite time of the year, was never the same, so yeah, I felt the beginning... BUT...

The characters lack consistency, the writing is abysmal, and the only actors that are actually believable are Danny, ofc, and Claire, the rest feel off, and as I said there is no consistency

The character development is done so badly, they literally don't know how to write it, and some actions the characters randomly take are just dumb or out of the blue, there is no build up to some of the decisions.

This movie reminds me of "Mixed Nuts," which for me is not a good thing. This movie is all over the place. So many plot lines start and don't follow through, the agendas of the characters get lost throughout the movie, the poster looks like a Christmas movie, which it's not. There's a lot of adults cheating on each other, so it's not a family movie. Just weird. I'd skip it. The only good thing about the movie is the landscape shots of Italy. I couldn't wait for the movie to end. Also, this isn't a comedy. There's nothing funny about it. It's definitely a lame drama. That was my first and last watch.

I'll write the first one and maybe the last one of this terrible movie. Who was it aimed at? It's got characters cheating on each other and a girl who wants to have Christmas in the Dolomites in August. What possibly can go wrong?

The "local" kids are American sounding. The hotel is owned by DeVito and has a staff of (from what we can make out) one Irish guy. And yet it looks like a 4 start hotel. Huge!! Massive rooms and only one guy and a dwarf looks after it? It's weird and stupid. How did they assemble a cast like this for a shocker of a film? It has no charm. None. I can accept B grade films about Christmas with a returned local helping out in the bakery shop and falling for the high school sweetheart that has stayed forever there... loads of those that have enough charm to at least be better than this.

I don't get Hollywood or its stars because what ever they have agreed on it must be in the contract to only have one take, all expenses paid (first class of course) and enough pay to buy the actual hotel they use for location.

And don't get me started on Kelsey Grammars crap Christmas movie ...

This is a remake of an Italian film, Improvvisamente Natale.

Lucy Devito and Wilmer Valdarrama are Abbie and Jacob Randall. Though they normally visit her father (Danny Devito) in Italy over Christmas, this year they show up in August.

The reason? They're separating and want Gramps to break it to their precocious daughter Claire (Antonella Rose). She's very good but because of her character being in therapy, she talks like a 40-year-old college professor.

Claire is way ahead of them - she's figured it out - and requests one last family Christmas there in the Dolomites. This means her father's parents also have to make the trip.

The scenery is breathtaking, and it's really the star.

Despite the presence of DeVito, it lacks the hilarity usually associated with him.

There's a lovely message, and it's a decent family film, but it's no great shakes and doesn't feel all that Christmassy.