Its a story of a family on Christmas Eve. Diane Keaton and John Goodman are married with an adult son (Ed Helms) and daughter (Olivia Wilde).
Alan Arkin is Diane Keaton and Marisa Tomi's father (thought the ages are clearly off there). June Squibb is Goodman's aunt.
Like most families who have moved on with their lives, they dislike spending time together. Dealing with expectations, facing their own inadequacies, long buried resentments and everything else that come with human relationships, they are individually dreading the time together.
The jokes are subtle with no slapstick crassness. They are contextual and many perhaps you need life experience to appreciate.
The music is great, there are many dogs and the set design gives an idealized Americana that town could hope to match. In fairness, many women see a cute soldier alone in an airport and let their minds wander. Nothing hotter than a man in uniform!
My 10 yo nephew chose the film (I wanted to see Snoopy) but in the end he had to keep telling his mother and I to keep our laughter down (and we hadn't even been drinking). Apparently the trailer lead people to believe it would be funnier but I loved it.
Its happier than 'The Family Stone', less romantic than 'Love Actually' and with more dogs than 'Macbeth'.
Alan Arkin is Diane Keaton and Marisa Tomi's father (thought the ages are clearly off there). June Squibb is Goodman's aunt.
Like most families who have moved on with their lives, they dislike spending time together. Dealing with expectations, facing their own inadequacies, long buried resentments and everything else that come with human relationships, they are individually dreading the time together.
The jokes are subtle with no slapstick crassness. They are contextual and many perhaps you need life experience to appreciate.
The music is great, there are many dogs and the set design gives an idealized Americana that town could hope to match. In fairness, many women see a cute soldier alone in an airport and let their minds wander. Nothing hotter than a man in uniform!
My 10 yo nephew chose the film (I wanted to see Snoopy) but in the end he had to keep telling his mother and I to keep our laughter down (and we hadn't even been drinking). Apparently the trailer lead people to believe it would be funnier but I loved it.
Its happier than 'The Family Stone', less romantic than 'Love Actually' and with more dogs than 'Macbeth'.