Categories: Movie Reviews

Happy Christmas- DVD Movie Review

Reviewed by Jim Milton

Synopsis

Irresponsible 20-something Jenny (Kendrick) arrives in Chicago to live with her older brother Jeff, a young film-maker living a happy existence with his novelist wife Kelly (Lynskey)and their two-year-old son. Jenny’s arrival shakes up their quiet domesticity as she and her friend Carson instigate an evolution in Kelly’s life and career. Meanwhile, Jenny strikes up a rocky relationship with the family’s baby sitter-cum-pot dealer.

Specifications

Paramount Studios
2014, Color, Rated R, 1 Hr 16 mins
5.1 Dolby Digital Audio, 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio
Starring: Anna Kendrick, Melanie Lynskey
Directed by Joe Swanberg

Rating

Entertainment:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Violence: No
Sex: Without nudity
Language: Yes

Commentary

This film must be geared for Millennials, because I found this movie to be dull and mildly frustrating. Jenny, our main character, is not a likable person. She sponges off her brother and lives in his basement. Besides being unemployed, she proves to be undependable, gets stoned (pot and alcohol) and is basically aimless. The films dialog is also very ad lib, like the director told the characters, “In this scene I want you to all talk about raising a baby. OK? ACTION!”. For the next 5 minutes the actors just wing it. I’m sure this style is supposed to be clever and fresh, but I found it extremely unengaging. I guess it could be partly my fault. I thought this was going to be a comedy and it was not. After nearly burning down the house because she passed out and left the oven on, Jenny runs away rather than face up to her irresponsibility’s. However, Kelly goes out and finds where she is hiding and invites her back to open present. After all, it is Christmas day…(fade to black)….THE END. Seriously? That’s how it ends? Now it could be that because I am not 28 years old, that I am missing “the point”, but watching a movie about young people who have no drive or goals except to get stoned is just not very amusing. Maybe I am just getting old. Bah humbug!

Technical

My review copy was a DVD, so I will forgive it if the picture was a bit soft. However, I did not like the hand held camera throughout the film and the sound was pretty flat and two dimensional. Perhaps the hand held camera was designed to give the movie a spontaneous feel (like the dialog), but some of the dark scenes were enveloped in murkiness and the music reminded me of what one hears on an AM radio station. Thin and compressed. The dialog was clear and centered, but nothing else really popped out…even in the crowded party scenes…that made you aware of your surround system. I’m not certain if the hi-rez Blu-ray version is going to help here.

Extras

None.

Jim Milton

Jim Milton has been interested in high fidelity since his college years in the late 70's. It was there that he first became interested in classical music. He has been part of choral music, both in opera and oratorio and is an avid collector of classical music from the Baroque through the Romantic periods. He enjoys an occasional night at Boston Symphony Hall or attending an organ concert at Merrill Auditorium in Portland, ME. Currently he is the director of Nuclear Medicine at the North Shore Medical Center, located just outside of Boston. He also serves as an adjunct professor for Salem State University where he teaches a course in nuclear instrumentation. During his leisure time, he enjoys listening to his music collection and an occasional movie with his wife of 30+ years. Living on the longest stretch of sandy beach north of Boston offers him plenty of opportunities to take a relaxing stroll or soak up some sun. "Remember, acquiring good A/V gear takes lots of time...but doesn't necessarily take lots of money."