Deck the halls with disappointment. I watched this on Amazon last week and it seems to now have been pulled. I wanted to show it to my sister who is in Film school in an attempt to show her how not to make a movie.
Holiday twist, is a festive flop that fails to deliver even an ounce of holiday cheer. This so-called comedy is more of a yuletide yawn, leaving audiences with a lump of coal in their cinematic stockings. The only thing merry about this movie is the relief you feel when the end credits finally roll.
From the very first scene, it's clear that this is destined to be a disaster. The plot, if you can call it that, revolves around a dysfunctional family coming together for the holidays and the inevitable chaos that ensues. Unfortunately, the film's attempts at humor fall as flat as day-old eggnog, leaving viewers with forced, cringeworthy jokes that are about as funny as a fruitcake.
The characters are as two-dimensional as the wrapping paper on a last-minute gift. The overworked mom, the bumbling Sean Astin , the snippy office workers, and the wise-cracking thieves are all tired tropes that do nothing to breathe life into the stale, uninspired script. It's as if the filmmakers raided the bargain bin of holiday movie clichés and threw them all together in a desperate attempt to create some semblance of a plot.
Speaking of the plot, what little there is of it is so predictable that you can practically see the ending coming from the first snowflake. There are no surprises, no twists, and certainly no moments that warm the heart. Instead, viewers are subjected to a parade of contrived conflicts and resolutions that feel as artificial as a plastic Christmas tree.
Even the most talented actors would struggle to salvage the stilted dialogue and uninspired scenarios that populate this cinematic lump of coal. It's as if the cast realized early on that they were in for a long, joyless sleigh ride and decided to phone in their performances from the comfort of their holiday pajamas.
To add insult to injury, the film's production values are about as impressive as a homemade ornament made by a preschooler. The sets are cheap and unimaginative, the special effects are laughably bad, and the soundtrack is a forgettable mix of forgettable holiday tunes that do little to elevate the uninspired on-screen proceedings.
There are plenty of other festive films out there that actually succeed in delivering the warmth and joy that this one sorely lacks. Definitely not a classic as some of the reviews have stated wrongly. What film did they watch? Definitely not this one.
