Happy Christmas

I only gave it 2 stars instead of NONE because that baby was cute. That is all.

I don't know what to think about this movie. The first impression was that it was a home movie because of the picture quality (16mm), lack of lighting, shaky shooting and strange camera movements.

Anna Kendrick was showing her white teeth all the time when smiling thousand times exactly same manner which was odd. Perhaps she had new teeth and wanted to show them. These overly white and too perfect teeth look funny here in Europe because they don't look natural.

And why an Earth was this called Happy Christmas? I wanted to give only one star of ten just to warn people if they think that this was some kind of Xmas-movie and more over a happy one. Well. The kid was nice and that's why I watched the movie to the end.

Joe Swanberg who wrote, directed and played one of the leading roles in this his latest film is known for his improvisational independent films. Although I liked, as other reviewers have noted his recent movie "Drinking Buddies", I felt this film's improvisations failed in that the dialogue was too stilted, awkward, and filled with what appeared to be inside jokes that the cast would laugh at, ignoring basically the viewers that were watching. Thus the whole thing just got more and more annoying for me as it progressed.

The plot centers on the loving couple of Kelly (Melanie Lynskey) and Jeff Spelling (Swanberg) and their adorable son Jude welcoming to their home, in Chicago around Christmas time, Jeff's sister Jenny (Anna Kendrick), after she just broke up with her boyfriend. Once Jenny enters the scene, they'll be a lot of scenes involving pot smoking, drinking, sex, and explicit sex talk. They'll be other plot elements involving Jenny's irresponsibility and her attempts along with her friend Carson (Lena Dunham) to convince Kelly to devote more time to her writing and to get help with the raising of her son.

All in all, as mentioned, I just felt the improvisational approach here just didn't work, and the movie ended up having little entertainment value for me.

Kelly (Melanie Lynskey) and Jeff (Joe Swanberg) are happily married with infant son Jude in Chicago. Jeff's younger sister Jenny (Anna Kendrick) moves in with them. She's irresponsible and makes a drunken scene at her friend Carson (Lena Dunham)'s party. Kevin (Mark Webber) is the manny. She convinces Kelly to make some life changes.

Director Joe Swanberg is doing his improvisational thing. Lynskey is great. Jenny is supposed to be the flighty irresponsible sister. I don't think that's Kendrick's natural range. She has made a career out of try-hard uptight girls. I can see her trying to expand her range. I think she is capable. I don't think the character is written completely right. If she's irresponsible, she needs to do more than getting drunk and smoking weed. During her sexual encounters, she reverts back to her uptight persona. She needs to let loose and go crazy with this character. This movie has a simple story without much drama. It needs to go a little crazier to heighten the intensity.

One thing's for sure – anyone who expects "Happy Christmas" to be some kind of indie Christmas movie is going to be sorely disappointed. Joe Swanberg's follow-up to "Drinking Buddies" has the same naturalistic style and relationship focus as that breakout film – both are short and seemingly aimless movies exploring different interpersonal dynamics between characters.

"Happy Christmas" centers around a young husband and wife (Swanberg and Melanie Lynskey) and their 2-year-old (Jude Swanberg) and what happens when the husband's 20-something sister (Anna Kendrick), who's in a much different place in life and coming off a break-up, moves in. The film is very much an experiment in how the younger sister's presence in the home shakes up dynamics and behaviors, especially when she engages in her own irresponsible behavior.

Swanberg's goal is to capture the subsequent interactions with as much authenticity as possible, which means a lot of improvised dialogue. Each conversation in the film probably only had one or two necessary scripted moments. What's beautiful about this approach is that relating to these characters takes no effort, especially those of us who count ourselves as young adults. That naturalism makes Swanberg's films so refreshing, even when it doesn't seem to have a point other than to be natural.

To some extent, the casting really makes a difference. One could argue that without established talents in this movie and "Drinking Buddies" that both films would flounder. To see a big star and talent like Kendrick appearing in a super grounded film playing a character that has none of her stuff together matters; Jenny is not Kendrick's usual type and this role showcases her raw acting ability in a way no other has. Lena Dunham, on the other hand, is right at home playing Jenny's friend Carson, and seems to have only been cast to help facilitate the improvisational style.

Of course the best casting of all is Swanberg's son, who easily gives the best performance by a 2-year-old in a movie ever. Presumably the presence of his dad made it easy for him to just behave naturally with all the other actors, but he accounts for a majority share of the film's entertainment value.

"Happy Christmas" is not a bad movie, but we usually don't watch films just to watch characters have realistic interactions with each other. Swanberg crafts these really touching moments when two characters seemingly at odds with each other find a moment of mutual understanding and appreciation, but the fact of the matter is these moments don't serve any large purpose or narrative, so they fall flat. Tack on the film's anti-climactic ending, both in terms of plot and themes, and it feels like all the good work Swanberg does is for naught. For his films to be special and resonant, he's going to need to give audiences a little more of what they want and expect. It would definitely be possible for him to achieve this without compromising his style and vision. For starters, don't put "Christmas" in the title if Christmas has minimal relevance to your movie.

~Steven C

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