Facebook Twitter Instagram
    Latest
    • Thank You
    • 4000. Scenes From A Marriage (1973)
    • 3999. The Pianist (2002)
    • 3998. Philadelphia (1993)
    • 3997. Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975)
    • 3996. The Green Mile (1999)
    • 3995. Doctor Zhivago (1965)
    • 3994. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)
    The Mad Movie Man
    • Home
    • Blog
      • All Posts
      • Best Of The Year
        • Best Of 2015
        • Best Of 2016
        • Best Of 2017
        • Best Of 2018
        • Best Of 2019
        • Best Of 2020
        • Best Of 2021
        • Best Of 2022
      • The Decade In Review
      • Box Office Analysis
      • James Bond
      • Oscars
      • RANKED
      • Star Wars
      • The Big Questions
      • Top 10
      • World Cinema
    • Ratings
      • Top 250
      • Top 100 Foreign Films
      • Bottom 50
      • 0 – 1.9
      • 2 – 3.9
      • 4 – 5.9
      • 6 – 7.9
      • 8 – 10
    • Genres
      • Action
      • Anthology
      • Animation
      • Christmas
      • Comedy
      • Crime
      • Documentary
      • Drama
      • Fantasy
      • Film-Noir
      • History
      • Horror
      • Kids’
      • Musical
      • Psychological
      • Romance
      • Sci-Fi
      • Short
      • Silent
      • Sport
      • Superhero
      • Survival
      • Thriller
      • Western
    • Release Year
      • 2020s
      • 2010s
      • 2000s
      • 1990s
      • 1980s
      • 1970s
      • 1960s
      • 1950s
      • 1940s
      • 1930s
      • 1920s
    • Country
      • Afghanistan
      • Argentina
      • Australia
      • Austria
      • Belgium
      • Brazil
      • Cambodia
      • Canada
      • Chile
      • China
      • Colombia
      • Costa Rica
      • Czechoslovakia
      • Czech Republic
      • Denmark
      • East Timor
      • Faroe Islands
      • Finland
      • France
      • Germany
      • Georgia
      • Greece
      • Hong Kong
      • Hungary
      • Iceland
      • India
      • Indonesia
      • Iran
      • Iraq
      • Ireland
      • Israel
      • Italy
      • Japan
      • Latvia
      • Lebanon
      • Laos
      • Malaysia
      • Mexico
      • New Zealand
      • Nigeria
      • North Korea
      • Norway
      • Paraguay
      • Peru
      • Philippines
      • Poland
      • Romania
      • Russia
      • Saudi Arabia
      • Singapore
      • South Korea
      • South Africa
      • Soviet Union
      • Spain
      • Sweden
      • Switzerland
      • Syria
      • Taiwan
      • Thailand
      • Turkey
      • Uganda
      • United Kingdom
      • United States
      • Uruguay
      • Vietnam
      • Zambia
    • About
    The Mad Movie Man
    You are at:Home»Review»1189. Happy Christmas (2014)

    1189. Happy Christmas (2014)

    0
    By The Mad Movie Man on December 21, 2015 2014, 4 - 5.9, 80-89 mins, Christmas, Comedy, Dec 15, Drama, Movies Of 2015, Review, United States
    4.9 Minimalist boredom
    • Acting 5.3
    • Directing 4.4
    • Story 4.9
    • User Ratings (0 Votes) 0

    Starring: Anna Kendrick, Lena Dunham, Mark Webber

    Director: Joe Swanberg

    Running Time: 82 mins


    Happy Christmas is an American film about an irresponsible woman who, after breaking up with her boyfriend, goes to live with her friend and her husband. However, her presence shakes up their calm home life, and begins to put a strain on everyone’s relationships.

    Despite the originality of this very stripped-down and deliberately naturalised movie, I have to say there is a point where this type of art just gets boring. Its techniques, such as improvised dialogue, a hyper-low budget and a super-real world story, are definitely bold, but this film unfortunately suffers from being all style, and no substance, never managing to interest me in what it was trying to say.

    Let’s first talk about what this film is. It’s a part of the independent ‘mumblecore’ movement (other such films include Swanberg’s Drinking Buddies), which is intended to create extreme naturalism in film through the use of a lower budget, and an entirely improvised script that surrounds a story all about the problems of day-to-day life faced by normal people.

    Now, there’s no doubt that it’s boldly going hard against what Hollywood normally puts out, but I just don’t think it makes for compelling watching.

    The issue is that the extreme minimalist style is actually pretty underwhelming when you’re subjected to it for nearly an hour and a half, and therefore it’s hard to be impressed by it, leaving you only with the wafer-thin story to provide some interest.

    And unfortunately, there was just nothing here to get me interested. The story was meandering and slow-paced, and when it’s coupled with the frustrating improvised dialogue, which feels even less natural than scripted dialogue due to long periods of dead air and the excessive use of ‘like’, it becomes almost unbearable to watch.

    Overall, credit to Swanberg for pursuing with an original concept, but this mumblecore style won’t make a compelling film until he’s got the story perfect, because the style itself is extremely underwhelming, and very frustrating to watch, and that’s why Happy Christmas gets a 4.9 from me.

    (By the way, this has pretty much nothing to do with Christmas. Just saying.)

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
    The Mad Movie Man
    • Website
    • Facebook
    • Twitter

    The Mad Movie Man, AKA Anthony Cullen, writes articles and reviews about movies and the world of cinema. From January 1st, 2013 to December 31st, 2022, he watched and reviewed a movie every day. This is the blog dedicated to the project: www.madmovieman.com

    Related Posts

    8.2

    4000. Scenes From A Marriage (1973)

    7.8

    3999. The Pianist (2002)

    8.2

    3998. Philadelphia (1993)

    Follow Me Online!
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Tumblr
    New Releases
    8.2
    December 25, 2022

    3994. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)

    5.6
    December 10, 2022

    3969. Falling For Christmas (2022)

    6.9
    December 4, 2022

    3956. The People We Hate At The Wedding (2022)

    5.4
    December 3, 2022

    3954. Disenchanted (2022)

    7.4
    December 3, 2022

    3953. Meet Cute (2022)

    7.6
    November 23, 2022

    3934. Do Revenge (2022)

    7.0
    November 18, 2022

    3929. The Wonder (2022)

    6.7
    November 13, 2022

    3924. See How They Run (2022)

    Recommended Movies
    8.0
    Review
    February 28, 20200

    2870. The Invisible Man (2020)

    8.1
    Review
    October 25, 20160

    1528. The Fundamentals Of Caring (2016)

    8.5
    Review
    April 15, 20220

    3709. Terms Of Endearment (1983)

    9.0
    Review
    August 8, 20160

    1445. The Little Prince (2015)

    8.0
    Review
    July 29, 20170

    1839. Il Sorpasso (1962)

    Popular Posts
    December 31, 2022

    Thank You

    8.2
    December 31, 2022

    4000. Scenes From A Marriage (1973)

    7.8
    December 30, 2022

    3999. The Pianist (2002)

    8.2
    December 29, 2022

    3998. Philadelphia (1993)

    7.5
    December 28, 2022

    3997. Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975)

    9.1
    December 27, 2022

    3996. The Green Mile (1999)

    7.6
    December 26, 2022

    3995. Doctor Zhivago (1965)

    © 2023 ThemeSphere. Designed by ThemeSphere.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.