A Merry Friggin' Christmas (2014)

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Some great laugh out loud lines here. It's not the best movie but if you're looking for Christmas faire (and have seen all the Christmas films and are looking for something new) you should watch this.

A very enjoyable holiday film with great casting. It did remind me of a TV movie, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. A man, played by Joel McHale, who suffered through an alcoholic father and less than great holidays, is determined to make his son's holidays as terrific as possible. He also wants his son to believe in Santa for as long as possible. After they make the long drive to his parent's home for Christmas, the parents realize they've left the son's gifts all back at their house. So McHale decides to drive back home overnight and get the gifts, so that his son can still believe in Santa Claus. When his car dies, he's forced to make the drive with his father. I'm sure you can guess how it all ends up, but it was still fun and charming, with a few laugh out loud moments. The end is very cute and just what you'd want in a holiday film.

I am not sure why so many reviews were under the 5 out of 10 IMDb rating. But I really liked this illustration of a typical dysfunctional family get together for the Holidays. I would think most everyone has their own version of some wacky anecdotes that happen during the Holidays. Whether it is about Christmas or Thanksgiving. Of course trying to keep it together for Christmas is definitively important in this movie or story. Again, I really think there are a lot of poignant little issues brought up with this ensemble of pretty good actors. This brings back a lot of weird family memories that I am fairly sure many of us can share. I love it when Lauren and Candice get drunk reminiscing and looking for presents in the attic. If anyone was cast wrongly I think it may have been Robin. He has a tough time playing a grumpy ass dad if you ask me. Although when he realized that he was an ass all his life... his demeanor changed showing the real Robin again. Not a great movie to remember him by but it's still a treat to watch the comic master one more time.

Amongst the many tributes paid in the wake of Robin William's tragic death, one close friend said one of the contributing factors may have been the paucity of good roles for him later on in his career. Watching A Merry Friggin' Christmas proves the words probably weren't just speculation.You know how it's gonna go from the off... They'll be a big family gathering, everything that can go wrong, WILL go wrong... But somehow, by hook or by crook, they'll make it together and, despite the turmoil and the arguments, prove they LURVE each other. It's a formula as old as the hills, but done right can provide for a heartwarming Yuletide treat.Not in this case. The 'complications' thrown up by the plot feel arbitrary and forced, such as the youngest child getting stoned on 40 year old pickles, and seeing a talking snowman in his snowglobe. Not funny, or cute. And what the scene where the adults think they've run over a drunk in a Santa Suit, and are about five seconds away from chopping up his corpse with a chainsaw before he rouses? In a black comedy, this MAY have worked... But considering how silly everything else on show here is, it just feels in bad taste.Questionable behaviour abound, too. If you hired a foreign bloke to housesit for you while your brood is away for the holidays... and you found out he invited his ENTIRE FAMILY round your place to spend the week there without your permission, and they subsequently messed the place up and opened ALL your five year old son's gifts... Would you a) Kick them out and call immigration or b) Leave them to it, and give them ALL your lad's presents... save one? Guess which option this film takes. So... encouraging illegal residency... willful vandalism... and rewarding the perpetrators by handing over your offspring's presents to the squatters. It's safe to say, this movie's idea of a goodwill gesture at Christmas and mine are mighty dissimilar.Robin tries... He really does... But even at his peak he would have struggled with such weak material. The producers are so desperate for laughs they even plumb the depths (pun intended) and make his occupation a toilet salesman. This leads to a trillion and one bathroom jokes, which are about as crude and relevant to Xmas as you'd expect. Here's one more for ya... Guess what I'm going to do with this movie? *DROPS IN U-BEND AND PUSHES FLUSH* 4/10