Love the Coopers (2015), PG-13, ★

Love the actors, hate the movie. 

Ah, Christmas. "It's the most wonderful time of the year" and also there has not been many Christmas movies in a while and counting on the movies, there are four or five coming including this movie I will review. But, now, I did not say that there has not been a good Christmas movie in a while, well, now, I'm saying it. Arthur Christmas was a true delight 4 years ago. However, even though I'm a sucker for Christmas sentiment in some movies (hey, I actually liked The Holiday), this movie sucked me down into the pitfalls of very bad Christmas movies. It is one of the worst Christmas movies for sure.

This movie, as advertised, feels like another movie in the Garry Marshall canon of insipid and terrible holiday ensemble films. Watch both Valentine's Day and New Year's Eve for about 10 minutes, any section, then, turn it off. Where do I begin, because there are multiple storylines? Most characters are part of the Coopers clan or family so we follow some characters along. Charlotte and Sam (Diane Keaton and John Goodman) are on the verge of divorce because Charlotte kept putting off an African vacation 30 years ago and angers sam. Mostly, everybody does not know about their conflicts.

In another storyline, Charlotte's dad, Bucky (Alan Arkin), is developing a relationship with a waitress named Ruby (Amanda Seyfried). The problem is that we do not know whether their chemistry is more romantic than a father-daughter relationship. However, it is a storyline that could have gone further if we have focused on that because there is a bit of tension in there. Another storyline which I think is the best of this boring Christmas film is Charlotte's daughter, Eleanor (Olivia Wilde) meeting a soldier named Joe (Jake Lacy), but they are both in opposite ends of the religious and governmental spectrum, which makes the storyline both amusing a little and awkward.

They did not wish me a Merry Christmas!

Again, this is one of the worst Christmas movies ever made because they think that we, the audience, are going to manipulate ourselves into being committed into loving the Coopers in the end. Even though, I liked one member of the Coopers, I actually hated being with them. It was like being at a zoo of maniacal characters who want to have the last perfect Christmas all over again and also most of the characters are just stereotypes from other cliched comedies or romantic comedies and even other Christmas movies.

What is Diane Keaton and John Goodman doing in this movie? They are playing one-dimensional grandparents who are basically the most standard and uninteresting grandparents probably ever because 1) their reason of getting a divorce is downright ludicrous and 2) they are a bit stuck-up with other members of the family and a few strangers. And, we have to spend the majority of the film with them. Marisa Tomei, who plays Charlotte's sister, gets arrested for shoplifting is really underwritten and Anthony Mackie is there to serve the purpose as the good-looking cop that is destiny for her. It is a bit random. Ed Helms and his outbursts belong in another movie. Alan Arkin and Amanda Seyfried's story could have been another Christmas movie, also, because their's is interesting. However, Olivia Wilde's and Jake Lacy's sub-plot could have the main plot with re-written organization and interesting backstories and the grandparents being a little sub-plot. And, June Squibb is there to be laughed at.

But, all in all, it is your typical cliche Christmas story that is garbage from the get-go. It was like Christmas hell, which weirdly is one of the later concepts this holiday season. And, there is that standard Christmas dinner sequence that is awkward and not well-executed properly. It is just required to be there. This is not a movie to re-watch over the holidays in the future. If it's on cable or Netflix, skip the movie.

*