Christmas With The Coopers, film review: Horrible, schmaltzy yuletide family drama is a waste of an excellent cast
(12A) Jessie Nelson, 110 mins. Starring: Alan Arkin, John Goodman, Ed Helms, Diane Keaton, Jake Lacey, Anthony Mackie, Amanda Seyfried, Olivia Wilde, Marisa Tomei
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Nelson's horribly schmaltzy yuletide family drama plays like a Christmas version of one of Robert Altman's Short Cuts-style portmanteau films featuring multiple characters, all of them flirting with disaster. The biggest disappointment is the waste of such an excellent cast. This is terminally treacly fare in which the writing is often very trite indeed. Lines such as "sometimes I feel I might be unlovable" or "you're a grand piano in a world of uprights" don't help.
As the story starts, four generations of the Coopers are gathering for the holidays. Young and old are all equally wretched. After many years of marriage, Charlotte and Sam Cooper (Keaton and Goodman) are about to split up but want one last Christmas with the family. Charlotte's malcontent sister Emma (Tomei) is busy shoplifting. Charlotte's daughter Eleanor (Wilde), whose heart was shattered by her fiancé, is fearful of relationships but nonetheless picks up a stranded soldier (Jake Lacy) at the airport and takes him home so she can pretend to her parents she has a boyfriend. Alan Arkin is the wise old patriarch of the family who has taken a shine to a very young waitress (Seyfried) at the diner where he drinks his coffee every morning. Helms is a divorced department store photographer who has lost his job and can't afford to buy his kids presents.
For most of the film, everyone looks utterly miserable but then – spoiler alert – the spirt of Christmas kicks in and before we know it, young and old are dancing together and all the bickering family members decide that, actually, they quite like each other after all.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments