Director: Phil Morrison
Stars: Paul Giamatti, Paul Rudd
It’s Almost Christmas and Dennis (Giamatti) is out on parole. He looks for work and ends up selling Christmas trees with his ex’s new boyfriend (Rudd).
This one really didn’t work for me. It’s billed a comedy-drama but it’s heavy on the drama and what little comedy the film contains is dark humor. I get that Christmas isn’t as magical for a lot of people as it is advertised and portrayed, but I don’t really get the purpose of making such a dreary Christmas film. It’s certainly not going to get you into the festive mood.
I liked Giamatti and Rudd, which is the main reason why I watched this film in the first place, but their likeability wasn’t enough to keep me interested in the film and I found my attention drifting away on many occasions. The pace is slow, the plot isn’t that interesting, the characters aren’t captivating and while the last scene is actually somewhat moving it’s not worth sitting through the rest of the film. It is almost Christmas and so you most likely have better things to do with your time than watch this film.
