X
- 2014
- R
- Magnolia Pictures
- 1 h 22 m
- 2014
- R
- Magnolia Pictures
- 1 h 22 m
Summary When Jenny (Anna Kendrick), a hard partying 20-something moves in with Kelly (Melanie Lynskey), a budding novelist, her film director husband (Joe Swanberg) and their two-year-old son after a break up, the family’s idyllic life is shaken. Jenny begins a rocky relationship with their baby sitter-cum-pot dealer (Mark Webber), and she and a...
Directed By: Joe Swanberg
Written By: Joe Swanberg
- 2014
- R
- Magnolia Pictures
- 1 h 22 m
- 2014
- R
- Magnolia Pictures
- 1 h 22 m
Happy Christmas
70
5.6
Where to Watch
Summary When Jenny (Anna Kendrick), a hard partying 20-something moves in with Kelly (Melanie Lynskey), a budding novelist, her film director husband (Joe Swanberg) and their two-year-old son after a break up, the family’s idyllic life is shaken. Jenny begins a rocky relationship with their baby sitter-cum-pot dealer (Mark Webber), and she and a...
Directed By: Joe Swanberg
Written By: Joe Swanberg
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 28 Critic Reviews
70
75% Positive
21 Reviews
21 Reviews
25% Mixed
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 28 Critic Reviews
70
75% Positive
21 Reviews
21 Reviews
25% Mixed
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
More than in any of his previous films, Mr. Swanberg and his cast have refined a seemingly effortless style of semi-improvised storytelling so natural that it barely seems scripted. Life just happens.
Each viewer is likely to connect with a different character initially, but don’t be surprised if you switch allegiances several times before the story ends.
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 24 User Ratings
5.6
42% Positive
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
33% Mixed
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
25% Negative
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 24 User Ratings
5.6
42% Positive
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
33% Mixed
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
25% Negative
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
I quite enjoyed Happy Christmas. A nice and enjoyable slice of life film, it is a captivating character study of a self-destructive, immature young man who desperately needs to grow up. Anna Kendrick perfectly emulates this type of person here, while Joe Swanberg and Melanie Lynskey also turn in good performances. The writing and direction here are solid and the film has good pacing with an interesting story to tell. I love slice of life films and this is no exception, though it does feel a touch incomplete. It needed to be longer than 82 minutes, just to give these characters more depth and more time to do things. Unfortunately, that is not the case and I would point to that as the film's main weakness. Otherwise, however, it is an enjoyable dramedy with good acting and compelling characters.
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Kitchen sink realism. It reminded me of a Ken Loach film but without the political content. A lively but immature young woman moves in with her indulgent brother and his less than thrilled wife.
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That doesn’t stop the movie as a whole from feeling a little slight, though, like a Christmas tree that isn’t entirely filled out.
I’ve never seen a better performance – or whatever you want to call it – from a two-year-old.
A good test of a movie like this is whether it would be more or less stimulating to hang out with people you really know for 82 minutes. If Happy Christmas is the time better spent, it might be time to find a new crowd.
Happy Christmas desperately needs some real jokes, rather than settling for the bemused chuckles that accompany its banal observations into human nature.
First, let me say that I absolutely love Anna Kendrick as an actress (and performer in general). And in this film, it's a fact that the little two year old boy is simply fantastic. Amazing, really. But that's about all there is good to say about this film. The unredeemable problem with Happy Christmas is that the screenplay presents a protagonist who is utterly unlikable, and is paired with a best friend who is equally unlikeable. The storyline is just a train wreck. Depressing? Yes. Interesting or mildly important commentary on humanity? I'm afraid not. I was disappointed tin this screenplay. Perhaps it could have worked as a 15 minute short. I hoped to see Kendrick charm us in this role, and to the extent possible I think she does. The problem is that the character - and film as written - just doesn't charm.
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There are bad movies, terrible movies, awful movies, and unbearable movies, unbearable as in you get up and walk out because it's painful. When Jenny gets drunk and starts to heat a frozen pizza, you know just where this is going, you know exactly how depressing it's going to be, and you also know there's no point in sitting through it.
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Production Company
Lucky Coffee Productions
Release Date Jul 25, 2014
Duration 1 h 22 m
Rating R
Tagline Family is the gift that keeps on taking.
Awards
Midwest Independent Film Festival
• 3 Nominations
Sundance Film Festival
• 1 Nomination
Women Film Critics Circle Awards
• 1 Nomination
