Christmas with the Andersons (2016) Reviews

• The Christmas story that you want to avoid...

  paul_haakonsen2017-04-21

  When I sat down to watch "Christmas With the Anderssons" it was part of a Christmas movie marathon together the family. However, this movie turned out to be one of the least entertaining and it was quickly turned off again, because it was just absurdly inappropriate and ludicrous. We managed to suffer maybe 20 minutes or so through the Christmas ordeal that is "Christmas With the Anderssons" before we threw the towel into the ring out of sheer boredom and lack of entertainment value from the result of director Michael Feifer. The characters in the movie had the charisma and appeal of wet cardboard cut-out characters. They were essentially every bit as useless and pointless as the script and storyline turned out to be. And they were characters that you just didn't connect with on any level. As for the jokes and situations in the movie, well they were every bit as rigid and mundane as the characters turned out to be. Regarding the acting in "Christmas With the Anderssons", well I can't claim to remember a single of the people in the movie. And I believe it was not the acting talents themselves, but the fact that they had absolutely nothing to work with in terms of script, storyline and characters. This is definitely not the stuff that Christmas classics are made of, and I have no intention to returning to this movie to finish it at any point in time. This movie just wasn't worth it in any possible way.

• Jinglemas with the Jerks

  frukuk2016-12-29

  This film is so unrealistic, it's impossible to "suspend disbelief". Michael appears to come from humble beginnings, yet his father runs a law firm. Michael is a partner at a law firm (and owns 49% of it), yet his father (who owns the other 51%?) simply fires him and leaves him without any income. (I'm not sure how partnerships in law firms work in the US, but I assume Michael would get some "dividend income" as he still owned 49% of the firm.) For a film like this to work, there really needs to be a sense of "we've just lost our income and we're over indebted, what on earth are we going to do?" Yet any problem that is thrown up (e.g. being sued for emotional distress caused by a product bought from Caroline's "Bubbles" store) is easily resolved. And Michael's character seems to be all over the place: from humble through jerk to compassionate. The only redeeming feature is Christy Carlson Romano's performance as Caroline.

• Happy Christmas Show

  wge19542016-12-18

  This show provides an upbeat but realistic portrayal of a family undergoing financial hardship during the holidays. But unlike others, it does not become sappy or sink in a quagmire of despair before the expected upturn occurs. Beware that Grinches and Scrooges who hate Christmas may denigrate it. OK, it is not "The Third Man" or "Picnic" but it should keep you entertained. Two other more serious, but not depressing, movies that might interest adult viewers are "Midnight Clear", with Stephen Baldwin, and "Silent Night" with Linda Hamilton. For humor there is, of course, "A Christmas Story" and "Christmas Vacation". Like there is a single person on Earth who has not seen these two classics.

• Opening is the best part

  Talentlings2018-02-26

  The only reason I'm giving this a 5 and not a 1 is because of Rene Michelle Aranda's delivery (get it?) in the opening of the movie. It was all downhill from there. I believe all the actors did the best they could with this and deserve better.

• Boring, corny with really bad OTT acting

  mariondowning-427-4693442017-12-15

  If you like a movie where the actors look like they're reading lines with huge bulging excited eyes, contrived situations (like twins that always appear together and smiling), soppy rubbish thrown in such as home made decorations (including one where a baby supposedly ate uncooked dried macaroni off it without choking), and like to hear the phrase "I love you" said constantly by an annoying family (said phrase even appearing on an inflatable Christmas decoration), then this is the rubbish for you.