Tutti insieme a Natale

This is not an outstanding movie, or even one that pleasant to watch, but it is enjoyable in its way. Somehow I couldn't just enjoy these people's misery as much as I would have liked to.

Julia Duffy and David Ogden Stiers both do a good job. I know Duffy best as Stephanie on "Newhart", though she's somewhat more mature here. Seeing Stiers as wimpy is kind of surprising if you know the Charles Emerson Winchester character, but he does it well and even manages to show some courage later.

There are appealing spoiled brats, but Sandra does not manage to be one of them. But her change in behavior later does show enough range to make up for what we saw earlier.

Chinelle is adorable. Joey Lawrence, meanwhile, shows no similarities to his "Blossom" character. He looks like a punk rocker and is about as appealing, though he's more Moby than Billy Idol.

Kirby Heyborne--who looks to me like Roger Daltrey-- is appealing enough and manages to carry the movie with occasional narration, along with being one of the more normal characters.

The decorations are great. Most people say they wouldn't like to be in a house like that, but if I'm just looking at it, the overdone Christmas paradise is really nice.

You can imagine what the live Christmas broadcast is going to be like. But it's even worse than that: if you were laughing before, there is only one funny line between the TV show and the humorous final scenes. But the turn toward drams is not a bad thing.

There is some good music too. Not all of the music is my taste, but some of it is.

It's not a classic, but it's pleasant enough.