Une Famille Formidable

"Christmas in Connecticut" is a made-for-TV remake of a feature film from 1945, which I must admit I've never seen. Elizabeth Blane is a famous television chef, whose public persona is that of the perfect All-American housewife. She lives in a large house in a rural part of Connecticut with her husband John. She has a daughter, Mary, a son-in-law and two grandchildren, Kevin and Melissa. At least, that is the story put out by her publicity machine and her manager Alex. In reality Elizabeth is, and always has been, single without any children and lives in a penthouse in New York. To make matters worse she cannot cook and has no idea about housekeeping. All the dishes featured on her show are actually cooked by her assistant Josie. (Elizabeth also claims to be too young to be a grandmother, but as Dyan Cannon was actually 55 when the film was made, that claim should be taken with a pinch of salt).

One year, Alex has a great idea for a Christmas special. Jefferson Jones, a forest ranger from Colorado, has become a national hero after saving the life of a young boy during a blizzard. Unfortunately his home was burnt down shortly afterwards, and as he was rumoured (wrongly) to be a great fan of Elizabeth's TV show, Alex invites him to spend Christmas with Elizabeth and her "family". This, of course, involves a certain amount of deception. He finds an old farmhouse to stand in as her home, casts himself in the role of John and Josie as Mary and persuades various acquaintances to represent the rest of the family.

This is one of those films which could have been much funnier than it actually is. The basic idea is a good one, and "Christmas in Connecticut" could have been a devastating satire on the dishonest way in which the mass media manipulate the truth, something along the lines of "Network" or "The Truman Show". The final result, however, is nowhere near as good as either of those great films. I don't think it matters that the film's central concept is an improbable one. In 1945 it might have been possible to deceive the public as to a celebrity's domestic circumstances and culinary abilities. By 1992, however, the inexorable rise of the paparazzi and of the scandal-raking tabloids would have made this sort of deception virtually impossible. Satirical comedy, however, has always been a genre which has enjoyed a licence to stretch the bounds of the probable, and even the bounds of the possible; "The Truman Show", for example, is based around a central concept even more improbable than this one.

There are, however, three reasons why this film does not work as well as it could have done. The first is that the film is both a satire and a romantic comedy; Elizabeth and Jefferson find themselves falling in love, even though he at first wrongly believes her to be a married woman. The heroine of a rom-com must always be sympathetic enough to retain the audience's affections, which means that the script never satirises Elizabeth as mercilessly as it could have done.

The second reason has to do with the first word in the film's title. Any film with a Christmas theme is virtually guaranteed endless repeats on television every December. Yuletide, however, is the season of goodwill to all men, even to dishonest and manipulative television stars and executives, so Christmas movies must always contain a strong feelgood factor. Nobody wants to watch anything depressing while recovering from an overdose of turkey and mince pies, so over the holiday season sentimentality is in, mordant satire out. The third reason can be summed up by those words "TV movie". Hollywood can sometimes (as with "Network") produce a brilliant satire on the television industry; television producers tackling the same theme tend to pull their punches for fear of biting the hand that feeds them.

On the credit side, the acting is generally good, with Cannon making an attractively lively heroine, Kris Kristofferson a genial if bemused Jefferson and the late Tony Curtis showing that he was at much at home in comedy as he was in serious drama. Arnold Schwarzenegger's direction, however, is rather heavy-handed; this is to date his only film, and he was probably wise to diversify his career by going into politics rather than into film directing. Overall, "Christmas in Connecticut" is not such a bad film. It just could have been so much better. 6/10

There are risks in doing remakes. When I saw this, I had not seen the Stanwyck film. I just found this about as dull as can be. The whole thing with trying to cook a dinner for a forest ranger and having to hide the fact that she can't cook and going through the gyrations they do, just doesn't work. Is her career really going to hit the skids because the tree guy might find out? Two really tiresome actors, Dyan Cannon and Kris Kristofferson (I like his music) walk through their roles and produce something they hoped would sell at Christmas time. I imagine they managed to put a few people in the seats at the time, but I doubt it has had much of a following. It's just a weak film and can fade into the woodwork of cheap collections of Christmas movies.

I gave "Christmas in Connecticut" 5 stars instead of the ~3.5 it deserved due to its one redeeming quality: its radiant star, Dyan Cannon. Aged about 55 at the time the film was released, she's just as lovely, charming, and sexy as ever, and actually brings a measure of believability to her character, the beloved-by-America but ultimately fake TV chef Elizabeth Blane. The tired, utterly predictable script would have been even more insufferable in the hands of a lesser actress. Unfortunately, Cannon's bright spectre only serves to underscore just how less-than-mediocre the rest of the cast is. Elizabeth's TV "family" are completely unremarkable and forgettable individuals who bring little to their respective roles. Tony Curtis is meant to bring flair and comic relief as Cannon's manager/producer and would-be TV husband, but his over-the-top execution of the predictable slapstick jokes and comic gigs ultimately falls flat, leaving the audience to feel he's been horribly miscast. Kris Kristofferson, as Blane's western-woodsman forest ranger love interest, looks appetizing enough, but walks through his lines woodenly. And those are the more remarkable of the cast members, most of whom look like they've been plucked right off the main street of a small town somewhere in Middle America. The opening scene, where Blane is filming her TV cooking show, and the camera changes points-of-view to reveal the behind-the-scenes workings of the fake cooking show - including Blane's assistant (and the actual chef) crouching under the counter and handing up the finished dishes - is probably the best scene in this film, which gets more contrived and predictable as it progresses towards its inevitable conclusion, in which her ruse of being the perfect domestic doyenne is destroyed on live TV for all of America to see, and she predictably finds love with Kristofferson amidst the chaos.

I should add that haven't seen the 1945 original, so I am judging this film purely on its own merits. Schwarzenegger brings absolutely nothing new or interesting to a film whose best line may just be (coming from Cannon's fake grandson) "For $50, I can fake a nightmare and sleep in your bed!" (to prevent her from being stuck there with fake "husband" Curtis). With this as his sole directorial credit, it's no wonder he hasn't directed another movie since. Despite the fact that Cannon's sparkling performance is ALMOST infectious enough to make us all partially re-discover the magic of Christmas along with her when she hears Christmas bells while taking a (completely unrealistically set-up) sleigh joyride, it's just not enough to save the tired writing and inane attempts at humor. If you're looking for a nondescript, Lifetime-style Christmas movie to kill a couple of hours, Cannon's performance puts this film just a notch above the other formulaic Christmas rom-coms out there. Otherwise, I can't see any reason at all to waste your time watching it.

Now I am a huge fan of the original. That film I just discovered about 2 years ago. I knew there was a remake so yesterday I finally I got to see it it.

In 1992, this remake of Christmas in Connecticut was made, starring Dyan Cannon This made-for-TV movie, was directed by Arnold Schwarzenegger, who also made a cameo as the man sitting in front of the media truck. In this remake, Elizabeth "Blane" is the hostess of her own cooking show. When her manager, Alexander Yardley, introduces her to Jefferson Jones—a forest ranger who lost his cabin in a fire— he asks her to make Jones Christmas dinner live on her show. As in the original, Elizabeth isn't as talented as she seems. This version was not as well-received as the original. As one critic wrote, "You'll be hungry for a better movie after suffering through this film.

I will say this film is not as bad as that critic has stated. The film starts off great but it does lose steam. The worse casting decision is that of Tony Curtis who is too over the top here. The film has a believable set-up and when the film sticks closely to the original it shines. In the last half of the when this film strays from the original is when this film encounters trouble. The first half of the film the original material is works great.

I thought this movie was very funny and light-hearted, which IS the point of a comedy. Everyone knows re-makes always take a certain poetic license. I thought there was a great relationship with Cannon and Kristofferson and he was perfect as the crusty woodsman. Cannon carried her part off with great panache and that million watt smile. The supporting actors all performed beautifully also. The "son-in-law" who was also auditioning, the faux daughter who was the real cook, and of course, Tony Curtis as Mr. Yardley, proved once again that he is a comedic genius.

This is laid-back entertainment, not a Shakespearean tragedy. Lighten Up People!