A Merry Friggin' Christmas (2014)

At this moment in time, I have no idea of how many movies featuring Robin Williams are still due to be released after his untimely death. All I can say is that I hope some of the others are a damn sight better than this one, which I worry will be received positively by people who simply don't want to speak ill of the dead.

And let me clarify something before I go on. Williams is pretty great in this. He's one of three main highlights. So this isn't a review aiming to have a go at him. It's just a review critical of a movie that he happened to be involved with.

Joel McHale plays Boyd Mitchler, a man who has to return to his family home, with his wife (Lauren Graham) and kids, in order to attend the christening of his nephew on December 24th. It doesn't take long until the greetings give way to animosity and resentment. The main friction comes from Boyd and his father (Williams). Boyd's younger brother, Nelson (Clark Duke), reacts to the more volatile moments by running off to hide, while his sister, Shauna (Wendi McLendon-Covey), is fairly nonplussed by the whole situation. She's busy keeping her kids from causing too much damage and telling her father off whenever he accuses her husband (Tim Heidecker) of being a pervert (for reasons that become clear as the movie plays out). To top everything off, Boyd realises that he forgot the main presents for his youngest son. This is probably the last year that he'll believe in Santa Claus and Boyd wants it to be special, unlike his own childhood Christmas experiences. Can he make the trip back to Chicago, and THEN back to Wisconsin, in time? He's certainly going to try his hardest.

Looking at the credit listings for the main talent behind the camera on this movie, it quickly becomes clear just where the problems stem from. Director Tristram Shapeero has a fine body of work to his name, but most, if not all, of it is TV work (including one of the best TV episodes ever for Brass Eye, and many episodes of Community). This would explain why the film never really feels very cinematic. It is, to all intents and purposes, either a TV movie or a couple of episodes serving as the finale/opener of some show. Unfortunately, that means that viewers are taken along for a ride with characters you have no time, or inclination, to get to know better. Oh, they could have been memorable, they could have been people that were worth watching, if the script had been better. That's where first-timer Michael Brown comes in. Seemingly content to line up the hurdles that McHale needs to overcome in order to enjoy Christmas, Brown forgets to create characters that are interesting enough to invest in. He also forgets to create a fluid narrative that leads to a deserved finale, one ripe with the potential for redemption and change. Whatever happens to these characters before the end credits roll, it just seems unearned.

I already mentioned Williams as a highlight. The other main highlights would be Duke and Oliver Platt (as a down and out Santa). Graham, Mclendon-Covey and Candice Bergen (as the mother of the household) also do solid work, but they're given a lot less to do. Heidecker's character really didn't need to be there, which leaves him with very little to do, although all of the child actors do enough to earn their places onscreen. McHale, as much as I like him on TV, can't overcome the script. His character feels more like an irritant than the lead, most of his behaviour is either stupid or simply stubborn (aka stupid), and part of me kept hoping that yet another obstacle would come along to knock him flat on his ass. That surely wasn't the intention.

I would recommend a number of Hallmark/ABC movies over this one, and I'm not joking or exaggerating when I say that. This was really poor, and a waste of some considerable talent. Skip it, unless you're a real Robin Williams completist (and I know there are a few out there).

3/10

http://www.amazon.com/Merry-Friggin-Christmas-Blu-ray/dp/B00NGAJAOS/ref=sr_1_2_twi_2_twi_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1418319820&sr=8-2&keywords=a+merry+friggin%27+christmas

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Ani-MAY-tion Month: The Croods (2013)

There was nothing that appealed to me when I saw the trailer for The Croods. It looked okay, I guess, but it also looked quite bland and unfunny. In fact, had it not appeared on Netflix (ahhhh, thank you Netflix) I probably wouldn't have given it a look for some time. But it did appear on Netflix. And I thought I should at least give it a try.

Well, within the first 10 minutes I was glad that I'd decided to give the movie a chance.

The Croods was definitely sold short. It's not up there with the very best animated movies that I've seen in recent years, but that's simply because the best animated movies nowadays are SO good. Thankfully, this film is very enjoyable, and also benefits from visuals that cram in so much colour and detail that even the more ridiculous onscreen moments can appear photo-realistic at times.

The story concerns a prehistoric family who live in a cave for most of their time. This is because the father (Nicolas Cage) wants them all to be safe, even if it means that they're not too happy. The unhappiest member of the family is Eep (Emma Stone), a young girl who wants to get out there and explore the world. Well, she gets her wish when she meets Guy (Ryan Reynolds) just as some major environmental changes force the family out of their cave and wayyyyyyyy out of their comfort zone.

Building the comedy from the cast of characters and situations they find themselves in, as opposed to a load of pop culture references and one-liners, The Croods is good fun for the whole family that doesn't always take the easy option. Oh, okay, it DOES often take the easy option, but not without an enjoyable feint in a different direction before getting back on track.

Directors Chris Sanders and Kirk De Micco, who developed the screenplay from a story they worked on with John Cleese (yes, John Cleese), have done a great job, balancing spectacle with humour and heart. There are times when The Croods becomes *shock, horror* slightly mawkish, but it's always just the right level of sweet without becoming sickening.

That balance is helped by the vocal cast, who all seem to have a lot of fun. Cage should really do more work like this. His voice is instantly recognisable, but his character gets away from his usual tics and twitches thanks to the fact that it's delivered by animators. Stone is very enjoyable as the little girl wanting to grow up and strike out, Reynolds is good as the young man showing people a way to potential safety, and Cloris Leachman and Clark Duke both provide some chuckles as, respectively, Gran and Lunk. Catherine Keener has the most thankless role, as the mother/voice of reason, but she's just fine in the role.

I've not heard many people discuss The Croods, although it appears to have done well enough at the box office to get a sequel greenlit, but I hope that its reputation starts to grow. As surprised as I am to be saying it, this may very well be the second-best American animated movie of 2013 (with the top spot held by the brilliant Monsters University).

8/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Croods-Blu-ray-3D-Copy/dp/B00CM98DPQ/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1391776071&sr=8-3&keywords=the+croods