Prime Time: Oh. What. Fun. (2025)

One of the bigger Christmas movies to appear at the end of 2025, Oh. What. Fun. has a wealth of talent on both sides of the camera. It's directed and co-written by Michael Showalter, comedy fans should already be familiar with his name, and makes use of the likes of Denis Leary, Felicity Jones, Jason Schwartzman, Chloë Grace Moretz, Dominic Sessa, Joan Chen, and Eva Longoria. All while boasting another leading role for the great Michelle Pfeiffer.

Pfeiffer plays Claire, a mother and wife who is starting to feel very unappreciated. All she wants from her grown children is a nomination that will get her some recognition and an appearance on her favourite daytime TV show (hosted by Zazzy Tims, played by Longoria). Sammy (Sessa) is too busy feeling sorry for himself after recently being dumped by his girlfriend (Mae-bell, played by Maude Apatow), Taylor (Moretz) is distracted by her latest new love, Donna (Devery Jacobs), and Channing (Jones) is considering how to transition to some new holiday traditions with her own family. There's also a perfect neighbour (played by Joan Chen) adding some pressure to the holiday season, and things snowball until Claire just decides that she has to take a break from her family. On Christmas.

This is a strange one. It will be enjoyable enough for some, and you would think it could hardly fail with everyone helping to fill out the cast list, but, contrary to the title, it's not really any fun. And, yes, I am aware that the title is supposed to be ironic. The tone of the film isn't though. It's supposed to be a mix of comedy and drama that does what pretty much every Christmas movie does: deliver a seasonal message about kindness and love. It just rarely works as well as it should.

First of all, despite the very true statements made by Pfeiffer about how many Christmas movies (and, let's face it, movies in general) are made about men/boys needing help in comparison to movies that celebrate all that women do . . . the fact that the central character here is seemingly motivated by her own need to be seen as so much better than others around her doesn't help to make her a very sympathetic lead. In fact, and maybe I am risking some wrath here by just commenting as a clueless bloke, Pfeiffer's character isn't very pleasant to her family, doesn't seem to have any friends to help her let off some steam, and generally demands some specific rewards and recognition for doing a decidedly average job, at best, of being the family matriarch. Her husband and children may be a bit selfish and inconsiderate, but so is our lead, despite her actions trying to prove otherwise.

Second, it's neither very funny, nor is it very Christmassy. Many won't mind the lack of laughs, but I was hoping for something to compensate for the lack of real drama (and I do mean a LACK of real drama, with a few things being presented here that end up being completely inconsequential as things quickly move from one scene to the next . . . try to argue with me on that point and then tell me why we had that shoplifting scene, and what that added to anything). There are Christmas decorations, of course, and some pleasant chilliness in the air, but the lack of any sweet centre, and an apparent reticence to fully lean into all of the holiday trimmings, stop this from feeling like something designed specifically to be appreciated in the run up to Christmas.

Sessa and Schwartzman give the two best performances onscreen, which is a real shame when you consider who should be the shining stars. The latter plays Doug, husband of Channing, and his general mistreatment in the family home is another mark against the film, especially when he's shown struggling to connect with Channing's siblings, but always willing to turn up and do his best for family time nonetheless. Another enjoyable turn comes from Havana Rose Liu, playing a cool daughter of Chen's character. Pfeiffer struggles with the unhelpful material, as do both Jones and Moretz. Leary fares a bit better, but is, much like his character, able to coast along without making any major effort. And as for Eva Longoria, she does almost well enough to make you forget her small role in War Of The Worlds. Almost.

The first screenplay from Chandler Baker, adapted from her own short story, Oh. What. Fun. just has far too many things wrong with it to get even close to feeling right. Whatever Showalter thought that he could bring to the material isn't clear. All he's managed to do is helm a feature that will rank as one of the worst mainstream releases for all involved. And that is saying something when you think of the collected filmographies of the leads.

3/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews
Or Amazon is nice at this time of year - https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/Y1ZUCB13HLJD?ref_=wl_share 

The Holdovers (2023)

Considering the fact that it's a Christmas movie, it's no surprise to see that The Holdovers was released in the USA just over a year ago (the wide release was in November 2023). What IS surprising, but sadly not unexpected, is the fact that the UK release was delayed until mid-January. As good or bad as the movie may be, few people feel the urge to rush out and see a Christmas movie once the main holiday season has been and gone. Now is the right time to watch The Holdovers, if you want the best experience with it anyway, but you can then choose to rewatch it whenever you like.

Paul Giamatti plays Paul Hunham, a teacher at an all-boys boarding school called Barton Academy. Drawing the short straw in the run up to the holiday season, Hunham ends up staying on the school premises over Christmas with those who aren't able to head home. A few stragglers need supervision, but the central group is eventually whittled down to Hunham, Mary Lamb (the cafeteria manager, and a grieving mother, played by Da'Vine Joy Randolph), and a smart, but depressed and troubled, student named Angus Tully (played by Dominic Sessa). Although these three wouldn't normally spend so much time together, they end up going through some good and bad experiences that bond and change them, for the better. 

You can spend a lot of time praising director Alexander Payne for making such an effort to emulate the look and feel of '70s movies here, helped in no small part by cinematographer Eigil Bryld. You can also praise his relationship with his cast members. Writer David Hemingson also deserves many compliments, especially when it comes to an insult delivered in the third act that is up there with the very best I have ever heard in any movie (and so delightfully unexpected that I burst out laughing the first time I heard it). But it's hard not to just shower this with love because of a perfect trio of central performances being rooted in a low-key tale of Christmas "redemption". Hunham is, in many ways, the Scrooge due to be visited by spirits, but the spirits who do their bit to transform him are still encased in living and breathing human flesh.

Giamatti has been delivering nothing but greatness for decades now, but his portrayal of Hunham easily ranks alongside his very best performances. He may have one lazy eye, achieved with the use of a special contact lens, but nothing else in the role can be described that way. Giamatti has a ball with a fully-rounded and wonderfully-flawed character, the teacher who eventually sees one or two things that he can learn from others. Sessa is almost just as good, and the real heart of the film shows teacher and student butting heads in between discovering common ground, but both men are overshadowed in a couple of scenes that allow Randolph to take your heart and yank it down to your knees as she struggles to contain or direct some of the despair she feels at the loss of her son. Carrie Preston is very sweet in her supporting role, Andrew Garman is the headmaster who gives Hunham his holiday caretaker role, and Gillian Vigman and Tate Donovan come along at the end of the movie just in time to underline the importance of the journey that our main characters have been on.

I've watched this twice now, and the second viewing was just as good as the first, but I am trying to consider one or two very minor criticisms that stop me from rating it as perfect. The runtime could have been cut down by a few minutes, it just never feels as if it has to be 133 minutes long, and one or two scenes don't feel like anything more than fun vignettes. And yet . . . and yet . . . I love every minute of this, and I love every scene. The vignettes still feature details that reveal even more about the characters, and about how their relationships develop throughout the movie. So, on second thoughts, my criticisms are not criticisms. And I'll rate this as perfect.

10/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing, and ALL of the links you need are here - https://linktr.ee/raidersofthepodcast
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews
Or Amazon is nice at this time of year - https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/Y1ZUCB13HLJD?ref_=wl_share