Father Christmas is Back

We watched this. It was not uniformly terrible. There were some moments of levity. But it felt like a long series of comedy sketches in search of a punchline. There are moments of maudlin sincerity grafted into situations that have almost no connection to the emotional statement. The acting/characterization is completely two dimensional. The comedic actions arise because no one has ever thought to ask the next question. At least three of the families here are super rich to the point of owning estates and incredibly expensive cars, and yet they act like helpless children in the face of trivial adversities to the point that you begin to believe that the foolishness of the English elite of Downton Abbey is not a one-off but is part of being rich and English.

We tried, but could not stay with this Christmas lump of coal. Overdone in all aspects. Plus it used every retread of family disfunction ever in a movie. It went on and on, and overstuffed scenes like Santa stuffing his presents in his sack. Why would anybody fund this mess, and think it would be a success to annoy the viewing audience with such overacted garbage?

If you like Christmas movies, and comedies like many of us, do yourself a favor and pass this dog by. Ruff, Ruff.

I absolutely adore Kelsey Grammar but this film is a complete bore!!! There is nothing cute or funny about it. The "sisters" are horrible! It is a must never watch again holiday film.

I am afraid this new edition to Netflix's Christmas movie collection is disappointing. Though there were (to be fair) some laugh-out-loud moments, overall, the script was, simply put, weak: the humor was often dry and missed the mark, character development was poor, and the climax was as predictable as it was nauseating. Set in a Yorkshire mansion, a dysfunctional family reunites for Christmas. Caroline Christmas-Hope (played by Nathalie Cox), a control freak, has organized the perfect Christmas, so she thinks. As family members arrive, we begin to see how dysfunctional this family really is. However, Caroline is still determined to have the perfect Christmas, until out of nowhere, 'Father Christmas is Back'. And this, of course, forces things to go haywire, setting off a series of mishaps, inconveniences, and misunderstandings. However, through it all, a long-buried secret that tore their family apart many years ago is finally uncovered, and eventually, Christmas is restored. The script does a good job, I must say, of capturing the feeling of spending Christmas with family members who don't get along, spend too much time bickering, and where well-intentioned plans are shredded. The dialogue and scenes around some of the mishaps are funny, though many fall flat as well, I am afraid. Though I could relate to the dysfunctional family theme, I found it difficult to connect with any of the characters. They did not draw me in. The script was a bit light on heart-to-heart moments. To be fair, I did shed a tear or two in the scene at the pub towards the end where Caroline confesses waiting/looking for her father on every Christmas. The acting was very strong. Indeed, it was the acting that kept me watching. The cast consists of a blend of seasoned actors as well as newcomers, all of which were entertaining to watch on screen. The movie too did have a pretty good Christmas vibe to it and some nice scenes of a Yorkshire town. There was the annual Christmas fair in Howden, and, of course, a Nativity play. Overall, it is a rather weak Christmas movie, I am afraid. That said, if you are looking for a movie with quirky (and often mean-spirited) characters, occasional laughs, and a bit of the holiday spirit, then 'Father Christmas is Back' may be just what you are looking for.

The negative reviews, and from trusted critics that are held with admiration by me, really did dampen my expectations prior to watching 'Father Christmas is Back'. It was still watched however as someone who loves Christmas films and because of loving various members of the cast. Particularly Kelsey Grammer, John Cleese and Caroline Quentin. Was absolutely determined to at least like this film and have been known to go against the grain and find panned films not that bad or acclaimed films not that great.

'Father Christmas is Back' unfortunately for me was as bad as has been said and the criticisms it's garnered are deserved. One of my biggest peeves is waste of talent and there is some great talent wasted and badly, which does infuriate me actually. Is it the worst Christmas film in existence? No. But there were times where it did come dangerously close to being down there and of the Christmas films seen recently it is definitely one of the very worst. That is being said with regret.

Despite being a very, very poor film, there are redeeming merits. There are some nice shots and some nice scenery.

Quentin gives the best performance, being the only person who seems to know what type of film she's in without going over the top. Kris Marshall does play it straight quite effectively.

All that cannot be said for the rest of the cast. Elizabeth Hurley comes off worst, even in a film that can be quite campy she does overact embarrassingly. As does Nathalie Cox, if her goal was to make her character insufferably irritating she succeeded. Then we have Grammer, who seems to be sleepwalking and misses the chance to give the film any real heart, while Ray Fearon also gives up too early in an underwritten and borderline pointless role. Didn't care for any of the characters, with Hurley and Cox's being incredibly annoying. The chemistry also seems awkward.

Furthermore, the script is full of incredibly forced attempts at humour, the campiness reaching fever pitch bizarre levels, and the moments that are meant to be more heartfelt come over as too over sentimental. The gags are too few and all land with a thud, due to their predictability and how really forced they are. The story is very flimsy and what not enough there is is very predictable and dully paced. Too many things happen too conveniently too. The music is also unbearably schmaltzy sounding and is completely at odds with the film's tone. The direction is barely there.

Overall, very, very poor. 2/10.