"All American Christmas Carol" tries to play both sides of the line between trailer trash schlock and family redemption ala Dickens. Unfortunately, it fails to entertain in either realm. The pace of the movie is uneven and slow, bouncing around story points that go on too long and initially leave you wondering what all this is leading to. Most of the cast is competent enough, but the characters and situations, as written, are uninteresting and unconvincing. Ironically, when the first ghost finally appears in the presence of the character supposedly needing to be un-Scrooged, the moment is rushed with no buildup or reaction whatsoever to the game-changing event. Why this scene is played with such dryness by both characters is both puzzling and disappointing, especially after so many uncompelling scenes leading up to it. And so it goes with the rest of the spirits who have their subsequent (and unremarkable) interactions. At what point this movie was supposed to be entertaining was lost on me. The resolution that finally brings this movie to an end is equally unbelievable, uninteresting, and prolonged.
I gave this movie 3 stars for good acting by some of the cast, and overall technical production that was decent. None of those stars are for special effects, as the ghosts appear mostly via camera cuts and are only afforded makeup for their afterlife appearance.
If you like stereotypical trailer trash gags, this movie has a few. Otherwise, there's not much else in it worth the hour and a half.
