Netflix And Chill: Jingle Bell Heist (2025)

I like to think that I am quite honest when it comes to my opinions on movies. Sometimes I can happily blame a movie for any faults, and sometimes I have to blame myself for entering the viewing experience with certain preconceptions or bias. I'm not sure who should get more of the blame for Jingle Bell Heist, but I think it's the makers of the film. Writers Abby McDonald and Amy Reed don't seem to know exactly what kind of film they're serving up, and director Michael Fimognari doesn't do nearly enough to keep you invested in either main option, be it seasonal rom-com or fun crime flick. Okay, the title clues you in to the main aim of the plot, but the plotting leaves a lot to be desired.

Sophia (Olivia Holt) works at a grand department store owned by the Scrooge-adjacent Maxwell Sterling (Peter Serafinowicz). She has the chance to commit a minor theft, which she wants to do in order to help pay for the medical treatment of her sick mother (Natasha Joseph), but that brings her to the attention of tech-savvy Nick (Connor Swindells), a young man seeking to rob Sterling's premises, despite already having served some time in prison for previously robbing the place. The two of them decide to work together, but they'll also need to figure out how to get certain information out of Mrs. Sterling (Lucy Punch). 

If you want your movie to be viewed and enjoyed as a heist movie then you need to get the details and timing right. Jingle Bell Heist takes viewers on a number of tangents that ultimately prove inconsequential. It's a way to fill the runtime, I guess, but isn't good as an example of the mechanics and appeal of any heist movie. Which is why I started to think that this was a rom-com with the heist as simply a plot device looming large behind our leads. But it doesn't have enough rom or com to make it a success in that sub-genre either.

Holt isn't bad in the lead role, even if ill-served by the screenplay, but there's no chemistry between herself and Swindells, who is also someone I wouldn't call bad. It's just a shame that neither cast member seems to work as intended. Serafinowicz is slightly underused, but that makes the scenes with him more of a treat. Joseph has to look ill, but also remain upbeat and lovely, which she manages, and Punch gets involved in a sequence that ends up being the comedic highlight of the whole thing. Poppy Drayton and Michael Salami do fine in very different supporting turns, as do Ed Kear, James Dryden, and everyone else filling out the cast list.

On the plus side, it doesn't feel too cheap or slap-dash, which is more than can be said for many other movies churned out to keep spreading the Christmas cheer, but that's about the only major positive. None of the dialogue is particularly smart or witty, none of the plot developments feel as if they unfold in a way that is natural and plausible, and it's very hard to stay invested in something so, well, nonchalant about the tropes and beats that could have made it a much more enjoyable experience.

4/10

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Silent Night (2021)

If there's one thing we Brits can do it's exploit our civility and manners for entertainment purposes. And we have used that for many different movies, from classic murder mysteries to dark comedies, from the sci-fi horror of something like Prey (Norman J. Warren, 1977) to the unfolding dinner party with a big secret in Rope (Alfred Hitchcock, 1948). This material has been mined by many other countries throughout the decades of cinema, but I like to think that they all stem from observations of British people in their home environment.

Silent Night, the first feature from writer-director Camille Griffin (who also casts all three of her sons in roles of varying importance), shows a group of seemingly well-to-do British people gathering at an isolated home for an evening of dining, drinking, conversation, and probably more drinking. It's a dinner party with a difference, that difference being the looming end of the world. 

While this is an interesting premise for a movie, and could have been a showpiece for any actor, Griffin stumbles due to a lack of tonal focus or consistency. She may have wanted to make something that weaves from comedy to drama to horror, but every one of the better moments just makes you wonder how many other ways the film could have played out in a much more satisfying way.

The main fault lies with Griffin’s script, especially when she doesn’t give anyone the kind of razor-sharp dialogue that the film craves. None of the main characters have the steel required to lift it up to a level of greatness. If this had been made fifty years ago with a main role for Bette Davis, THEN you have something closer to greatness.

Keira Knightley and Matthew Goode are the host couple, both doing well with what they are given (mainly being polite and attempting to put a brave face on things), and their three children (the characters played by Griffin’s children) include another star turn from Roman Griffin Davis, playing the most important person in the film. Lucy Punch, Annabelle Wallis, Kirby Howell-Baptiste and Lily-Rose Depp play the women, all with various approaches to their impending fates, and Sope Dirisu and Rufus Jones are the two male guests, supporting their partners as they deal with some unfinished business.

Things step up a notch in the third act, and the very end features a great little “punchline”, but the end result is more of an interesting, incomplete, almost-ran than an outright winner.

6/10

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Prime Time: Bad Teacher (2011)

Bad Teacher doesn't entirely work, mainly because it doesn't really spend enough time wallowing in the right kind of bad teacher behaviour, but I am surprised that it received the generally negative reaction that it did when first released. While not great, it IS good, and it IS funny.

Cameron Diaz stars as Elizabeth, a lazy teacher who is looking forward to marrying her rich fiancé and leaving working life behind her. Except that doesn't happen. So she's back at school for the next year, looking for ways to earn enough to pay for the boob job that she hopes will help her land another rich guy and allow her to live the comfortable, kept lifestyle that she years for. Her lessons consist of showing pupils films (Stand And Deliver, Lean On Me, Dangerous Minds) and she is happy to do even less than the bare minimum, until she hears about a cash prize for the teacher of the class with the best test results.

Written by Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg (who previously worked together on Year One and the American version of The Office), this is most enjoyable when it is showing a character pushing things much further than any adult in a position of authority should. It's just a shame that they don't ever really risk pushing things towards darker, and potentially funnier, territory. This is a film that tries to be fun and edgy without ever being really becoming transgressive, which is understandable from a sales point of view but disappointing nonetheless.

Director Jake Kasdan does solid work, moving between a few of the bigger set-pieces (a car wash moment, a scheme to steal a test paper, the grand finale) briskly enough to ensure that the film doesn't overstay its welcome. It's a simple 90 minutes (give or take) of bawdy humour that does enough by the third act to have you rooting for the main character, despite her selfish and manipulative ways.

Diaz is a lot of fun in the lead role, whether she's trying to look wide-eyed and innocent or showing her true colours in amusing exchanges that leave others shocked. Lucy Punch is the other teacher who suspects that things are going very wrong in the classroom across the hall from her, John Michael Higgins is the Principal, and Phyllis Smith is a rather timid teacher who is also a friend, and unable to see the real badness of Diaz. All of them are great fun, as are Jason Segel and Justin Timberlake, two very different men who work at the school. The former is interested in Diaz while she, in turn, is looking to bag the latter (because his family has money). Thomas Lennon is as hilarious, as he so often is, in a small role, and all of the main child actors do well.

There are a number of mainstream comedies from the past few years that you could pick if you want more laughs, I can't deny that, but Bad Teacher is still good enough to pass some time and keep you amused. It's not ace . . . but it still makes the grade.

6/10

You can buy the movie here.
Americans can buy it here.

April Fools: Cottage Country (2013)

Tyler Labine spends some time in a cottage in the middle of some woods, and death starts to have a field day. Yes, it should be clear to anyone who has seen the cover art for this movie that one or two people wanted to profit from the goodwill heaped upon the excellent Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil.

Labine stars as Todd, a young man who is planning to propose to his loved one (Cammie, played by Malin Akerman) during a romantic weekend at his family's cottage. Unfortunately, his brother (Dan Petronijevic) turns up, accompanied by his crazy girlfriend (Lucy Punch). Tensions quickly rise, leading to bloodshed and a situation that quickly spirals from bad to worse.

Although there's a fun cast here, all trying their hardest, there's just something about Cottage Country that stops it from every becoming a good film. Perhaps it's because we've all seen this kind of material done a number of times before, and done better. Perhaps it's because of that horrible feeling that people are just trying to wring more money from fans of Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil. Or . . . . . . perhaps it's just not good enough, with the tension never really feeling that tense and the comedy never being that funny.

Labine is as likable as ever, and Akerman is someone I tend to enjoy onscreen (she's gorgeous, and game for a laugh), but nobody else really makes a great impression. Petronijevic and Punch are saddled with portraying two extremely annoying characters, which makes their scenes hard to enjoy, and Benjamin Ayres, Kenneth Welsh, Nancy Beatty and Sabrina Grdevich just don't get enough to do.

Writer Jeremy Boxen fails to mix in any surprises, or good enough jokes, while director Peter Wellington does nothing to help strengthen the desperately-in-need-of-strengthening material. Everything is put together competently enough, but the film just never takes off.

If you like the leads, as I do, then you'll be able to get some amusement from this, but it's a below average effort that I can't imagine anyone listing as a favourite.

4/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cottage-Country-Blu-Ray-Kenneth-Welsh/dp/B00EYVFHY0/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1396988320&sr=1-1&keywords=cottage+country

Take Me Home Tonight (2011)

Based on a story by Topher Grace and Gordon Kaywin, Take Me Home Tonight is a 21st century John Hughes movie in the mould of Sixteen Candles and Ferris Bueller's Day Off and that, in case you didn't know it, is a good thing.

As well as coming up with the central idea, Topher Grace also stars in the film as Matt Franklin. It's 1988 and Matt has never realised his potential since he left MIT. He just can't bring himself to be passionate about the materialism surrounding him. Thankfully, there's a BIG party to attend that should take his mind off things for a while. He goes along with his friend Barry (Dan Fogler), who was JUST fired, and his sister Wendy (Anna Faris), who is considering throwing away a potentially great future to settle into the role of supportive partner to her boyfriend. The party should be a lot of fun but, more importantly, it should also be graced by the presence of Tori Frederking (Teresa Palmer), the girl with whom Matt has been in love with for many years. Everything is in place for a wild and crazy night and the four partygoers may just find that they look at the world a little differently in the morning.

Directed by Michael Dowse, with Jackie Filgo and Jeff Filgo responsible for spinning the story into a full screenplay, Take Me Home Tonight is energetic, funny and also quite sweet in places. But if you like your comedy a bit more raucous and illegal then never fear - there's also car theft, a LOT of cocaine and a weird sexual encounter between Barry and a character played by Angie Everhart.

The cast all do a great job. I've always liked Topher Grace and he's never turned in a performance yet that's changed my mind (do check out the excellent In Good Company f you've not seen it already). Anna Faris can do the light comedy stuff in her sleep but she doesn't go over the top here and her character is one to root for, as are all of the leads. Fogler is just hilarious and gets the lions share of the best lines, most probably due to some great improv. He also gets a great dance off sequence. Teresa Palmer is required to look lovely enough for Matt to desire so badly and she does that easily. She also acts just as well as anyone else onscreen even if she has the least to work with, in terms of character development (her character is already set, pretty much, but Matt has to find out about her while also aiming to impress). Michael Biehn is excellent as the father just wanting his son to try to do something with his life, even if he screws up in the process, while Lucy Punch and Michelle Trachtenberg play two very different party attendees. Oh, and Angie Everhart takes part in that hilariously weird encounter already mentioned above.

Just writing this review has brought a smile to my face and made me want to rewatch the movie and if that's not one of the best recommendations for a comedy then I don't know what is. I'm going to be buying this one ASAP and rewatching it whenever the mood strikes. I advise others to do the same. Or at least give it a watch if it pops up on the TV schedules.

8/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Take-Me-Home-Tonight-Blu-ray/dp/B004V2U4IQ/ref=sr_1_2?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1348996092&sr=1-2