Community Theater Christmas

The opening dedication is pitch perfect in setting up what you're about to see: Tongue-in-cheek irony about a community theater competing for a grant with an original Christmas play written by one of its members.

Shot like an amateur documentary with lots of pieces missing, each character is so perfectly imperfect, it becomes a lighthearted look at human ego in action with all its fears, egoisms, self-importance, searches for meaning, self-aggrandizing, and spiteful power games. If you've ever been involved with community theater--either backstage or in the audience--you'll recognize it in your bones. Plus, the actors all look like amateur actors and play it so over-the-top NORMAL with an excruciatingly bad Christmas play, there are times you forget its not a real documentary.

In fact, as the rehearsals and play progressed, there were a few times I stopped to wonder if the actors were really that bad or were they that brilliant? And therein lies the beauty of the film. It's different. And hits the bullseye of what it set out to do: Entertain you with tongue-in-cheek irony.

I can't remember the last time I saw a film through which I wore a smile all the way to the end. Watch it.

If you ever seen or participated in a Holiday pageant, you will get the vibe here. Zany and entertaining, it feels like Charlie Brown Christmas on steroids. A real slice of Holiday Pie!

Fabulous ensemble comedy & definitely worth a watch. Angelica is the best part.

It is super hard these days to find a holiday movie that is able to juggle comedy without coming across as corny, or not self-aware enough to see how much it fits into a formula. Community Theatre Christmas takes this aspect and turns it on its head. The movie itself is hilarious, the best I can describe it is if someone took the the style of the office and applied to a Community Theatre, which portrays the awkwardness perfectly. I was immediately taken back to high school and reminded of the "drama kids". What I loved about this movie was that it was super aware of what kind of movie it was, meaning that it was able to play into all of the stereotypes of not only theatre but acting in itself. Overall, its a perfect thing to watch for the holidays, but it really gets more complex the more you look into it, which I really love.

If you loved Waiting for Guffman, you need to watch this film. I lost count how many times I burst out laughing. Really great would highly recommend!