Le Noël de trop

It is pretty refreshing to see something different on netflix themed during the christmas time. It is enjoyble to watch without too much eyes rolling for some scenes being too cliche. Good sarcasms throughout the series, but still ends in a positive, cheesey note which it is still christmas themes series/show afterall.

I liked this one. It had (1) somewhat different culture than the usual fare and (2) an after school special on growing up for the twenty somethings.

I liked how the family was drinking so much to mask uncomfortable feelings - just like real life families! I liked how they tried to shoehorn joy into past feast traditions when they would probably have more fun with new traditions - just like real life! I liked how all of the people were flawed - just like real life!

It was a real life Christmas that actually portrayed the reality of going back to your small hometown. You can have fun with friends, tolerate your family, start to feel the joy of becoming the responsible adult in the family, enjoy the feasting, and learn that gifts will always be mismatched. Also it shows the forced celebrations with a recipe of specific traditions (put forward by the mother in this instance) were not really the point of Christmas nor the source of joy. Communal celebrations and real friendships, conversations and support for family are more important.

Netflix seriously underestimates its audience at Christmas. I just can't get into the dozen or so Hallmark/Lifetime style movies they churn out every year... so formulaic and cheesy.

It was SUCH a refreshing change of pace to find a laugh out loud funny, heartwarming, and much more honest take on the holidays. Sure there were some predictable plot points, but in all I found the characters to be genuine and loved the escapist scenery.

I'm not a real fan of Luke and got talked into watching this show by my wife. But boy was I happy about it. It's a light enjoyable tv show. It never gets to cheese. The family life is shown in a quite realistic way but what I find even more important is the way that our jelousy works is shown pretty good and how we can get lost in unimportant stuff without noticing that we are the ones limiting ourselfs and not the others.

I liked it to begin with and was happy to see it was filmed in Monschau where I've been. My brother took me there years ago when he lived nearby, and I would have recommended the series to him and others who were with me, but by the end it was a bit too sentimental and mediocre even for me. (I swear Luke Mockridge looks like Chris O'Dowd.)