A lot of good laughs here and there but overall doesn't work
This would have had a chance of being a decent holiday watch and somewhat entertaining if the story centered around the home owner & father played by James Gandoldfini.
It just doesn't work with the wacky neurotic as the lead specifically because he's played by Ben Aflac. He is simply not relatable or sympathetic. Other comedies like What About Bob, that have a similar framework (A wacky character intrudes on a normal family & high jinks ensue), only work with the wacky neurotic being the lead when they are likeable. A tall rich self-centered man-baby with good looks & bleached white veneers isn't while a good hearted yet myopic patient struggling with OCD and social norms is.
The filmmakers might have realized this if they hadn't started with an incomplete script.
This whole film reeks of some Hollywood executive throwing a half-realized concept together for the Christmas box office while dictating the cast & micromanaging the filmmakers.
It just doesn't work with the wacky neurotic as the lead specifically because he's played by Ben Aflac. He is simply not relatable or sympathetic. Other comedies like What About Bob, that have a similar framework (A wacky character intrudes on a normal family & high jinks ensue), only work with the wacky neurotic being the lead when they are likeable. A tall rich self-centered man-baby with good looks & bleached white veneers isn't while a good hearted yet myopic patient struggling with OCD and social norms is.
The filmmakers might have realized this if they hadn't started with an incomplete script.
This whole film reeks of some Hollywood executive throwing a half-realized concept together for the Christmas box office while dictating the cast & micromanaging the filmmakers.
- jmbush22
- Dec 16, 2024