Happy Christmas

Kelly (Melanie Lynskey) and Jeff (Joe Swanberg) are happily married with infant son Jude in Chicago. Jeff's younger sister Jenny (Anna Kendrick) moves in with them. She's irresponsible and makes a drunken scene at her friend Carson (Lena Dunham)'s party. Kevin (Mark Webber) is the manny. She convinces Kelly to make some life changes.

Director Joe Swanberg is doing his improvisational thing. Lynskey is great. Jenny is supposed to be the flighty irresponsible sister. I don't think that's Kendrick's natural range. She has made a career out of try-hard uptight girls. I can see her trying to expand her range. I think she is capable. I don't think the character is written completely right. If she's irresponsible, she needs to do more than getting drunk and smoking weed. During her sexual encounters, she reverts back to her uptight persona. She needs to let loose and go crazy with this character. This movie has a simple story without much drama. It needs to go a little crazier to heighten the intensity.