Merry In-Laws

This film is a delight. Shelley Long Reunites with her "Cheers" co- star George Wendt in this Christmas Theme Film. What is perfect is that they play Mr & Mrs Santa Claus.

There is something so special about a "Santa Claus" theme that I will be a huge sucker for.

This is an above average TV-Movie. In this film: A recently engaged woman plans a get-together so her parents can meet her fiancé's family. It turns out that his parents are Mr. and Mrs. Claus.

Lots of fun and has a pure heart. Family safe. Bake some cookies and watch together.

This movie relies heavily on exaggerated extremes for humor. Alex is a rigid realist with no room for video games or Santa Clause. Her father is worse, if that's possible. He has never heard of tact. In fact he seems bound and determined to offend Peter and his family from the start. Meanwhile Peter's father is actually Santa Claus.

Much of the movie is the Claus family's frivolity vs the Spencers' judgmentalism. It makes for a lot of fun situations. Throw in efforts to hide the secret. I wish Alex's dad wasn't SO mean. I find it hard to laugh when I want to throw something sharp and lethal at one of the characters.

In this type of movie, acting is hard to judge. George Wendt and Shelley Long play their parts well even when some silliness is required. Kassia Warshawski has moments, good and bad, but mostly good. Lucas Bryant has some awful moments, especially when he gets nervously excited.

Don't go by my rating. Alex's dad ruined it for me and this type of humor isn't my favorite.

I hadn't seen this one before but when I saw it had two Cheers stars back together I knew I had to give it a watch. I'm glad I did as it was a lot of fun.

It's just plain good old new fashioned Christmas hokum. Don't start this movie with any preconceived notions. I did--and it wasn't a good idea. Allow the fun of a Christmas fantasy to take you out even just for a little while into a world of real make believe. Don't make of it something that it never intended to be in the first place. BUT, if you are uncertain of your ability to separate reality from fantasity, you probably ought not watch this. But if you can, there will be more than a few moments of amusement--no great belly laffs but a lot of fun nevertheless.

The main draw of this TV movie is really the fact that 'Cheers' stars Shelley Long and George Wendt reunite in it.

But actually this is worth watching without that detail, because a decent story is being told. Yes, it's a little predictable, and it's certainly more than a little cheesy, but it's well meaning, and hey- it's a Christmas film.

I enjoyed this far more than I thought I would, and that's because of the performances that were given by the actors, who try their best to rise above the sentiment that can sometimes clog films like this.

If you're in need of a 'Cheers' reunion, this could be the place to go.