*Warning minor Spoilers* Happy Christmas is a strange film that is a mix of good ideas that were just poorly executed in places. On the one hand, I applaud the idea of creating a more realistic look at Christmas and family drama. Also, you can never go wrong with Anna Kendrick (However, they wasted her potential). But the problem is this film never fully establishes itself. For example, we learn that Jenny (Anna Kendrick) is moving in with Kevin and Kelly because she and her boyfriend broke up. Now, this is an interesting enough back story, but the film doesn't explore it or how it affected Jenny. As a result, we never get an understanding of her character's motivation or why she acts the way she does. When Jenny starts making poor choices, it just makes her look completely self-centered when, in reality, there could be a lot going on there. Also, I feel that the chemistry between Jenny and Kelly wasn't as strong as it should have been. I mean, the movie is centered around these two women's forced relationship, and they barely even talk to each other in the first half of the film. This leads me to my next point, which is it was a mistake not to make Jenny the lead character. For one, Jenny is the more interesting character as she is in this strange place between college and life outside of school. Second, the film feels fractured in a way as it bounces from focusing on Kelly and Jenny. In fact, the film is framed like it is Kelly's story, but it never fully commits to that view, and I think that is a mistake. Finally, since Anna Kendrick is by far the best actor in this film, she should have been the lead. Her performance is so much better than all of the other actors. It's like watching Lebron James play a bunch of high school kids. This also could be due to the fact that there wasn't much of a script for the actors to go off of. I say this because a lot of the scenes are just people talking, and I wondered if they were just improvising. Nevertheless, the acting wasn't great, and I didn't like a lot of the side characters. For instance, the husband didn't add anything to the movie even though he was how the two main characters were related. I hated the guy Jenny kept hooking up with, and I would have taken that part of the story out completely. Also, I didn't like the film's climax as the whole fire alarm thing didn't really seem like a big deal. It was just lazy writing and an excuse to get the family mad at Jenny.
However, I don't want to be too negative because there were some scenes I genuinely loved. For example, I loved the scenes where they were planning Kelly's books and Anna playing with the baby. Also, Make sure you WATCH THE MID/POST-CREDIT SCENE! It was my favorite part and the only part I really laughed at.
Overall, I do like this movie. I just feel like it could have been so much better. However, I liked the movie's main message, which is at the end of the day, Christmas happens, people make mistakes, families figure out how to make it work, and life goes on. As far as indie films go, there are a lot worse. So if you are an Anna Kendrick fan, give this one a watch.
However, I don't want to be too negative because there were some scenes I genuinely loved. For example, I loved the scenes where they were planning Kelly's books and Anna playing with the baby. Also, Make sure you WATCH THE MID/POST-CREDIT SCENE! It was my favorite part and the only part I really laughed at.
Overall, I do like this movie. I just feel like it could have been so much better. However, I liked the movie's main message, which is at the end of the day, Christmas happens, people make mistakes, families figure out how to make it work, and life goes on. As far as indie films go, there are a lot worse. So if you are an Anna Kendrick fan, give this one a watch.