I live in a small town where there is still a video store left. Its in the basement of a big convenience store who also serve as an ice crime bar the summer, basically they are a bit like the general store of the town. Anyway they cut a lot on their movies, especially older ones, a few years ago and i pick this one for like 1$ in a bin. I saw Robin Williams on the cover as well as Joel McHale (from Stargirl) and Lauren Graham on the back (Gilmore Girls, Bad Santa, The Mighty Ducks Show) who i always enjoy so for 1$ it was a no brainer. Wanted to watch it last year but eventually i didn't so i made sure to do this year.
This long intro done, well its a fine but nothing special Christmas movie. Its very short for a start so it never overstay its welcome. Maybe even a BIT too short? There is a few gags with the kids and the "weird uncle" to not use a banned term, but its minimal. Movie focuss mainly on the father and his 2 son while Lauren Graham and the mom have a little bit of a side angle. I think they could had done more with other characters.
I would say the movie gave me a few chuckles here and there, but it didn't made me laugh loudly much. The "familly story" tough is fine and Robin Williams put on a good performance. Apparently it was release after his death. I am not too familiar with the later part of his career. I mean like everyone i loved Mrs Doubtfire, Jumanji and Hook but those were all in the 90s. I looked at his acting credit on IMDB and most movies pass VR, i never saw and in some case never even heard of them.
All of this to say it felt a bit different than what i am use to see him into but it was well acted. Sadly the french dubbing is one of those "cheap dubb" where the company reuse the same voice actors for just about everything and the voices don't really match the actors. Williams do not have his 90s voice and Graham do not have her Gilmore Girls voice either. I guess for native english speaker it does not matter obviously, but for us Quebecers who watch in french, it did break a bit the immersion.
Well i did a much longer review than i expected. Yeah overall it was decent, it pass my 76ish minutes good enough. Glad i saw it. But will not be a classic for me.
