The Christmas Letter

Living in central New York State, this is a bit of a big deal in these parts, as this alleged comedy was filmed here, but "The Christmas Letter" - written by a native of Ilion, NY, is completely and utterly bereft of both charm and laughs, filled to overflowing with terrible dialogue, acting that's amateurish at best (check out the hilariously rotten British accents!) and overstuffed with deeply unlikable characters - is an out-and-out disaster. Naturally, its story apes nearly every sitcom trope, starting with the buffoonish husband married to the sensible wife, and is at all times predictable, hitting every note you've come to expect from tales like this. The tone strives mightily for the magical realism of such holiday films as 'A Christmas Story' and 'Home Alone' but succeeds only in coming across as a Disney Channel reject. Adding insult to injury, its "big stars" - Randy Quaid, comedian Brian Posehn, character actor Brian Doyle Murray, and an ancient Chevy Chase - are but minor supporting roles, leaving the heavy lifting to its main cast of actors who seem flown in direct from a community theatre, with the only notable aspect of the lead being his fascinatingly terrible toupee. This is, of course, a tale in which someone is meant to learn An Important Message About The True Meaning Of Christmas but ultimately for the viewer the only message YOU will learn is to be careful about opening this particular present.

I paid $4.99 to rent this disaster! It's the stupidest movie I've ever watched.. dumb writing, even worse acting. Chevy Chase should be embarrassed. What a waste of his time. Randy Quade just awful. I repeat the worst waste of my time ever. Never funny, not one laugh. Do not waste any money on this horrendous piece of junk. Who thought this was funny? Who could have put their name on this disaster? You are nuts if you rent this movie. A complete waste of your time and money. Please stay away from this. Awful, terrible movie. Bring a barf bag if you rent it. Stay away please. Never a funny moment.

The premise is somewhat interesting but that's the only redeeming value of this mess. The script is nonsensical, none of the characters are likeable and the attempts at humor fall painfully flat. Chevy Chase, Randy Quaid and Brian-Doyle Murray only have minor roles and are never in the same scene. They're apparently only on the marquee for marketing purposes. Quite frankly, they should be embarrassed. Don't be duped like I was. I spent $4.99 to rent which is $4.99 too much. Even free wouldn't be worth it. I didn't waste the full 90 minutes of my time because I bailed out early. It was too painful to watch.

I stumbled upon the 2024 comedy by random chance, and since it was apparently a Christmas comedy, of course I added it to my 2024 Christmas movie marathon. And I figured that with the likes of Chevy Chase and Randy Quaid on the cast list, and given the movie's synopsis, that I would be in for an enjoyable comedy.

But that was not to be. Not even remotely. Writer Michael Cunningham dropped the ball here, on a grand level, because the movie's storyline and script felt rather forced. It didn't help much that there wasn't a single laugh to be had throughout the course of the 94 minutes that the movie ran for. And as a comedy, then it sure fell short of being on point. The movie was lacking a natural flow to the narrative, and it just felt like director Tori Hunter had to rush and cut from one scene to another without being able to completely finish the former scene, and that made the movie feel unfinished and rushed. Yeah, I wasn't the least bit impressed or particularly entertained by the story in the movie.

The movie does have some familiar faces on the cast list, with the likes of Chevy Chase, Randy Quaid, Brian Doyle-Murray, Brian Posehn and Kristoffer Polaha. Needless to say that the acting performances in the movie were good. The video phone call between Chevy Chase and Randy Quaid was great, especially because of some not-so-subtle references to "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation", which definitely was a nice thing. But Chevy Chase and Randy Quaid were just in supporting roles here. The acting performances in the movie were, for the most parts, adequate enough.

"The Christmas Letter" was an insanely boring movie and a swing and a miss in terms of being a comedy. In fact, I gave up on the movie with just 20 minutes to go. But by then I was just ready to claw my eyes out from sheer and utter boredom. I was hoping the movie would get better along the way, but sadly it never did. This is definitely not a movie that I would recommend you to waste 94 minutes on watching.

And don't get suckered in on account of this being a Christmas movie, as it didn't even have an ounce of Christmas spirit or feel to it.

My rating of director Tori Hunter's 2024 movie "The Christmas Letter" lands on a generous three out of ten stars.

And that says a lot because there are sooooo many crappy movies out there. Obviously Chevy Chase and Randy Quaid were cast to draw in dumb viewers like me. This movie was terrible. My 10 and 12 year old grandchildren write better than the drivel in The Christmas Letter. Unimaginative, lazy, and simplistic dialog that absolutely ruins a great concept for a Christmas movie. The acting was terrible with the exception of the actor playing the mother. I feel like I got robbed by paying $15 to watch. I should demand a refund. Hollywood needs to lift their standards fast before the unintelligent writing and acting tears it to the ground.