Scrooged

Starring: Bill Murray, Karen Allen, John Forsythe, & Carol Kane

Director: Richard Donner - Rating: PG-13 - Score: 2 Stars

A Christmas Carol has been done to death on both television and the big screen. Back in the 80s, Bill Murray teamed up with Richard Donner to make this wildly successful version of the tale. The films these two were a part of, defined the 1980s, so I was expecting magic. instead I got something that was the definition of overrated. Frank Cross (Bill Murray) is a television executive, one that's known for never being happy and quick to the pull the trigger on his employees. While planning a big Christmas spectacle, things aren't going his way and he is on the war path, until he fall asleep in his office and those three ghosts pay him a visit. This film begs to be raunchy, the whole story is designed around this outrageous man, but Scrooged never seems to pull that trigger. The story we know, it's easy to predict what is going to happen, but when you add an uneven performance by Murray, infantile jokes, and a cast that doesn't quite fit their roles, the result is a film that's just lame. Was this supposed to be for adults or children? That question is never answered and we end up with a film that really isn't suitable for either. I like Bill Murray, I love Richard Donner, but the film Scrooged, simply misses the mark on so many different levels.

Unaccompanied Minors

Starring: Dyllan Christopher, Quinn Shephard, & Lewis Black

Rating: 3 1/2 out of 5 stars

For decades, A Christmas Carol and It's A Wonderful Life have been the standard templates for holiday films, until a third choice came along in 1990. Ever since, there have been a whole slew of films that have tried to be the next Home Alone. None have come close to being as good, but perhaps the best attempt came from Unaccompanied Minors. The Davenport kids are flying to seeing their father for the holidays when they are stuck in Cleveland by a massive snow storm. When they get there, they discover they are just two of dozens of kids who are stuck at the same airport, trapped in a conference room under the watchful eye of the airports ruthless administrator, (Lewis Black) who's not all that fond of children. Together with some of the more unique personalities, the Davenports stage an escape and wreck havoc on the airport, determined to have fun during the holidays, even if it is in a snowed in airport. Yes, this is a kids movie with all the cheesy jokes and kid stuff that comes along with it, but what makes it unique is all the different personalities. The six kids are from all different parts of the country and are all from different family structures and different socioeconomic backgrounds, meaning they all had very different lives and very different ideas on what the definition of fun is. The culmination of the different personalities and how they all come together is what makes this film unique and quite frankly pretty special. The young cast is pretty talented as well, featuring Brett Kelly from Bad Santa as well as Tyler Williams from Everybody Hates Chris. The young cast also gets help from veteran comedians Lewis Black, Wilmer Valderrama, and Rob Corddry. The combination of young comedians and veteran comedians adds another dynamic similar to the one set up by the characters in the film. As well as the mixing of characters personalities, you're also getting a wide variety of comedic styles in the film. The bottom line, Unaccompanied Minors may be a kids Christmas movie, but there is a whole lot to like about it, from the writing, to the in depth character development, the mixing of different comedic styles, and even the unique settings. It's not quite Home Alone, but as close as anyone's come since 1990.

Love The Coopers

Starring: Diane Keaton, John Goodman, & Ed Helms

Rating: 2 1/2 out of 5 stars

Over the past decade, we've seen a recent phenomenon in film, where producers cast many big names in a clip film, that all comes together in the end. While this may work well with superheroes, it has yet to be successful in regards to comedy. That is why the film, Love The Coopers can be defined with one saying, too many cooks in the kitchen. This film features a large and impressive cast, and the previews looked terrific, but I assure you, Ed Helm's little girl calling him a dick, is just about the only truly funny moment in this film. The story here has a lot of different angles, and they do come together quite nicely, but this film is not what it was intended to be, as the last thing I would refer to it as is a hilarious holiday film. A lot of people are going to see this film because of it's cast, and from young Timothee Chalamet to veteran Alan Arkin, this cast is remarkable, however the story is not, in fact this whole film was fairly dull. I expect a lot from the cast, but even Hollywood's best and brightest can't make a film work when the writing just isn't there. I love the concept and I really wanted to like this film, but in the end it's just a big disappointment.