EXMas (2023)

It’s always difficult to adjust back to single life after a painful relationship break-up. Some people try to keep doing the kind of things they did before. Some people try to change everything about their daily and weekly schedules. And some people throw themselves into their work. Graham Stroop (Robbie Amell) ends up in the latter group, although he was always a bit of a workaholic anyway. But his work is due to stop him from visiting his family for Christmas this year. Until it doesn’t. Graham decides to surprise his family, but the surprise is on him when he finds out that they’re all spending Christmas in the company of his ex (Ali, played by Leighton Meester).

That is all you need to know about EXMas, a fun Christmas rom-com that feels more spiky and slightly bawdy in comparison to the usual festive fare we get at this time of year. While it still stays within certain parameters, and some of the plotting seems to make no sense (although that isn’t unusual for this kind of thing), it’s a very enjoyable way to pass some time this month.

Both Amell and Meester are very good in their main roles, and they have the most fun when striving to compete against one another for the affection of the surrounding family members. There are also plenty of enjoyable supporting players, including Kathryn Greenwood and Michael Hitchcock as the mother and father, Veronika Slowikowska as the sister, and Donna Benedicto and Thomas Cadrot as potential love interests/complications.

Although I am unfamiliar with director Jonah Feingold and writer Dan Steele, both acquit themselves admirably here. Unlike numerous other Christmas movies at this level, there are actually a couple of set-pieces here that stand out (the best involving a large crowd and a goat), and a couple of running gags that become more enjoyable as they keep recurring. This is enough to help compensate for the muddled character development, even if things momentarily come to a screeching halt in the third act with a major incident that almost unbalances everything. Overall, fun is the main aim here and fun is delivered.

While it doesn’t do enough to break out of the tinsel-adorned confines of the Christmas movie box, EXMas stands above many others jostling alongside it. You can enjoy the festivities, as per usual, but you can also enjoy some proper laughs. I would happily rewatch this, and it’s highly recommended to those who don’t mind their seasonal treats having a teaspoon of spice to offset all that sugary sweetness.

7/10

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Netflix And Chill: The Weekend Away (2022)

When I selected The Weekend Away as my next viewing choice I had no real idea of what to expect. I'd had it recommended to me by one or two people who had really liked it. And I'd been warned away from it by some other people. I knew it would be a slick, probably quite tame, thriller. When I saw that it was written and directed by women (Sarah Alderson adapting her own novel for Kim Farrant directing) then I started to hope that it might at least put an interesting spin on movie tropes that we usually see filtered through the male gaze.

That was not to be the case. In fact, and I know this is a wild claim to make, I'd argue that the lead female character in this movie is one of the most useless I have seen in a long time. With the exception of one important moment, and even that moment is her following advice given to her earlier by a man, the character either has to have her circumstances improved by a helpful man or blind luck, or both.

Beth (Leighton Meester) is that main character. She has been invited for a girl's weekend away by her BFF Kate (Christina Wolfe). Kate wants the two of them to let their hair down and recapture some of the spirit of their past glory days, which will help her keep the thought of her divorce out of her mind and perhaps get Beth remembering that she deserves more than a marriage that hasn't incorporated a sex life for more than a year. Beth is also a fairly new mother, which means she can offer to show baby photos to men she doesn't want attention from. She also gets drunk far quicker, which is why she ends up crashing out while Kate parties on. Then Kate disappears. Beth starts to retrace their steps from the night before, with the help of a friendly taxi driver (Zain, played by Ziad Bakri). The local police don't seem too bothered, probably because they have already made their minds up on the kind of people they are dealing with.

It's easy, almost infuriatingly so, to see The Weekend Away as an easy viewing choice for many. It has a mystery at the heart of it, it has dark events taking in a sunny, foreign, location, and it has the layer of gloss that will allow it to catch the eye of many a potential viewer browsing their streaming options. In fact, in theory, there isn't much wrong with it. But if you're like me, if it doesn't ever engage you as it wants to, then everything will start falling apart very quickly. The characters are sketched out to be paper-thin, it's hard to really care about anything (as you know that the lead will somehow piece things together by the very end), and everything feels as if it was written and directed to be as patronising as possible to anyone watching it. Imagine if Agatha Christie was placed in a Seth Brundle teleporter pod while Aaron Spelling snuck into the other pod and you have some idea of the final result here. I'm going to put most of the blame on Alderson here, but Farrant seems unable to improve the material with her direction. The film may well be the successful translation of a shared vision, which means both Alderson and Farrant will view it as a job well done, and that's an even sadder thought.

I guess some of the cast do okay. Meester has to spend a lot of the film either being too unsure of herself and vulnerable or hiding away in bathrooms while she tries to surreptitiously use a phone. She does fine with both of those main jobs. Wolfe is onscreen for much less screentime, of course, but is perfectly okay when she's present. Bakri is good as the helpful Zain, but he also has to pause at times to look like a potential prime suspect. The same goes for Luke Norris, in the role of Beth's husband, Rob, and Adrian Pezdirc, playing a very shifty "landlord" named Sebastian. The less said about the two main police officers, played by Amar Bukvic and Iva Mihalic, the better.

Will some people be able to find enjoyment in this? Yes. Absolutely. Will I smile politely while silently judging them for doing so? Yes. Absolutely.

3/10

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