Holiday Rush

Odd concept to turn a movie about a dad losing his job around the holidays into his comedy. The kids are absolutely insufferable. Sonequa Martin-Green is fabulous which is why this isn't a 2/10.

With the exception of Sonequa Martin-Green, there is not a single likeable character. She must have been exhausted carrying the whole damn movie!

It's not a *bad* film, but it feels about 3 hours long and the hideously unpleasant child characters kind of make you hope they have a crummy christmas.

Worst of all, sadly, is the dad... sheesh... wooden as a door!

I liked this. It was a nice change from the "accomplished woman visits small town and sees the error of her evil ways".

The kids were portrayed as spoiled. Luckily they didn't dwell on any egregious behaviour - no one wants to watch extended bratty behaviour. But I actually thought the teenage son's situation was a little different. His sisters were straight out greedy and spoiled but he had a point to his complaint. His job had to be to study and get into Harvard. His dad's job was to fund it. This was yanked from him While obviously his dad didn't get fired on purpose, I never saw them actually acknowledge that the son's loss was or could be truly life changing. An acknowledgement can go a long way. Suggesting he go to community college with no actual discussion was something else. I know it wasn't the point of the movie but how about a conversation about alternate funding, scholarships etc. I mean they actually could have used the house sale money to fund the schooling. It reminded me of other situations where things have been yanked from teens and they are supposed to just get on with things with no acknowledgement that the teen has suffered a loss. They aren't just a child in the family but a person outside of the family.

If anything , this could have used more of the bad guys in the plot. I thought they were going to set up more roadblocks to the new radio station. I think that is where this movie could have shone.

It was a solid 7 and +1 for Darlene Love belting out her signature Christmas song at the end. Look her up if you don't know her history.

This is a cute enough little movie. Very "Black-ish"/ "Best Man Holiday" esque in terms of production quality, aesthetics, and setting, with a dose of Hallmark movie cheesiness to make it acceptable for a general audience. If you accept it for what it is, keep your expectations realistic, you'll find it enjoyable enough. Well, at the very least you'll find it watchable and won't be upset you spent time doing so.

Speaking of expectations, the two main characters exceeded mine. I've been so-so on Romany Malco's acting skills in the things I've seen him in, but I was pleasantly surprised with his performance in this movie. But it's his co-star whom deserves the honorable mention. I'm not familiar with her, but I think she carried this movie! I can't believe I haven't seen her in other things. I think she has tremendous star potential! The actor who played the son was also a pleasant surprise. Will also give a shout to Deon Cole for playing the funny villain pretty well.

There are weak spots: the older daughter's acting is somewhat mediocre. The plot is somewhat predictable. But not to the point it insults the audience's intelligence.

I think overall this is a quality, family-friendly offering from Netflix. Given some of Netflix's other more "agenda"-driven offerings, you have to take the non-offensive, non-controversial stuff when you can. Enjoy!

These are some selfish kids. I can't handle it. I'm not even going to finish watching it.