Sadly Over-hyped

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

A very enjoyable holiday film with great casting. It did remind me of a TV movie, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. A man, played by Joel McHale, who suffered through an alcoholic father and less than great holidays, is determined to make his son's holidays as terrific as possible. He also wants his son to believe in Santa for as long as possible. After they make the long drive to his parent's home for Christmas, the parents realize they've left the son's gifts all back at their house. So McHale decides to drive back home overnight and get the gifts, so that his son can still believe in Santa Claus. When his car dies, he's forced to make the drive with his father. I'm sure you can guess how it all ends up, but it was still fun and charming, with a few laugh out loud moments. The end is very cute and just what you'd want in a holiday film.

Joel McHale plays Boyd, a hipster hedge-fund-managing dad raising a macrobiotic-diet-eating hipster family who finds he'll be visiting his cigar-smoking alcoholic dad (played by the late, great Robin Williams) at Christmas.His brother, Nelson (or Nelly, as dad calls him) is a "war" veteran, having sustained a head injury after falling out the back of a humvee in basic training. He, too, bears the thick-rimmed glasses and bow tie characteristic of a hipster. Nelly, having recently become a father to a Mexican infant boy, shows classy parenting as he blends a bean burrito with some milk while on the phone with Boyd, then feeds this concoction to the infant who seems to eagerly anticipate it.Boyd's sister is white trash and is married to a convicted sex offender with a stupid bowl haircut who has a fondness for Old Milwaukee beer. They've raised two adorable white trash children, one who's an eating competition champ, another who's into 80s-style fashion and likes making YouTube videos of herself shaking her ass for the internet.The stabs at humor are painful at best. I've got to wonder if Robin Williams' expression of his character mirrored his last, dark days. I couldn't make it through the whole movie in part for this reason.It's for the compassionate Wisconsin state trooper character (who lets the speeding characters go in spite of being flipped off by Boyd, in favor of calling it a night to be with his family) is responsible for the star above 1 I give this miserably predictable flick.

Spoiler Alert - this is a bad movie and a waste of time to watch. There - I said it,One of Robin William's last movies but you don't want to remember him for this brick. With great talent like Lauren Graham (always lovable), Candice Bergen, and the late great Robin Williams, this movie had so much potential. Great Christmas movies can become classics and no matter what else an actor did, they can be remembered for one memorable holiday movie. Unfortunately, this isn't the case here. It tries to be a "Christmas Vacation" type movie. Dysfunctional family - check. Talented actors - check. Some funny lines - check. A family reunion that fails - check. Good writing - ...... NO check.I really wanted this movie to work and was so excited when I saw it at Red Box. By why had I never heard of it? Turns out it was released this year (2014) and probably went straight to DVD rental - and there is a reason. If you want to remember Robin Williams for his last good movie- go watch "Night at the Museum 3." But please don't remember him for this.

Amongst the many tributes paid in the wake of Robin William's tragic death, one close friend said one of the contributing factors may have been the paucity of good roles for him later on in his career. Watching A Merry Friggin' Christmas proves the words probably weren't just speculation.You know how it's gonna go from the off... They'll be a big family gathering, everything that can go wrong, WILL go wrong... But somehow, by hook or by crook, they'll make it together and, despite the turmoil and the arguments, prove they LURVE each other. It's a formula as old as the hills, but done right can provide for a heartwarming Yuletide treat.Not in this case. The 'complications' thrown up by the plot feel arbitrary and forced, such as the youngest child getting stoned on 40 year old pickles, and seeing a talking snowman in his snowglobe. Not funny, or cute. And what the scene where the adults think they've run over a drunk in a Santa Suit, and are about five seconds away from chopping up his corpse with a chainsaw before he rouses? In a black comedy, this MAY have worked... But considering how silly everything else on show here is, it just feels in bad taste.Questionable behaviour abound, too. If you hired a foreign bloke to housesit for you while your brood is away for the holidays... and you found out he invited his ENTIRE FAMILY round your place to spend the week there without your permission, and they subsequently messed the place up and opened ALL your five year old son's gifts... Would you a) Kick them out and call immigration or b) Leave them to it, and give them ALL your lad's presents... save one? Guess which option this film takes. So... encouraging illegal residency... willful vandalism... and rewarding the perpetrators by handing over your offspring's presents to the squatters. It's safe to say, this movie's idea of a goodwill gesture at Christmas and mine are mighty dissimilar.Robin tries... He really does... But even at his peak he would have struggled with such weak material. The producers are so desperate for laughs they even plumb the depths (pun intended) and make his occupation a toilet salesman. This leads to a trillion and one bathroom jokes, which are about as crude and relevant to Xmas as you'd expect. Here's one more for ya... Guess what I'm going to do with this movie? *DROPS IN U-BEND AND PUSHES FLUSH* 4/10