Oh. What. Fun - Review 

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

CHRISTMAS movies always tend to overdo the schmaltz and romanticism, especially when it comes to those that attempt to deconstruct family dynamics.

Oh. What. Fun therefore promised a little more given its idea to flip the script, concentrate on a female lead (and in doing so champion the role of mothers) and provide something a little more acerbic and biting.

Alas, Michael Showalter’s movie ultimately falls into the same pitfalls of similar genre entries such as the risible The Family Stone or Four Christmases, despite attempting to cast its net a little wider with nods to better entries such as Home Alone and Planes, Trains and Automobiles.

In the process, it also wastes the potential of a really good cast: one led by Michelle Pfeiffer as the family matriarch in question, the put-upon Claire, who desires nothing more for Christmas than for her children to nominate her to appear on the annual contest for the best Christmas mum of her favourite TV personality Zazzi Tims (Eva Longoria).

Naturally, they forget despite repeated prompts and in spite of the best efforts of Claire to meet their annual Christmas expectations.

Her returning family members include favourite son Sammy (The Holdover’s Dominic Sessa), struggling after being dumped but clearly carrying a torch for his neighbour, and daughters Channing (Felicity Jones), who feels under-appreciated, and Taylor (Chloe Grace Moretz), who has brought yet another girlfriend into the fray (as she does every year).

There’s also her husband Nick (Dennis Leary) and Channing’s husband, Doug (Jason Schwartzman), who contribute to the ensuing mayhem in different ways.

Matters come to a head when Claire is left home alone after a misunderstanding sees her family forget to take her to an annual dance event, prompting her to up sticks and head to the Zazzi Christmas show by herself.

It’s clear from the outset (and accompanying voiceover) that this is a film that’s designed to acknowledge how mothers are so often short-changed during the festive season. But rather than serving as an intelligent tribute with something deeper to say beyond the superficial, Oh. What. Fun slides into seasonal cliche.

Ideas are half-baked or copied from other (not necessarily better) films and characters are largely wasted. The inevitable learning of lessons and coming back together is also blandly handled and lacks the inspiration or warmth it is seeking.

Pfeiffer gives it her all and has some decent moments, as does Leary’s generally decent husband, and Jones as one of the better defined children. But Schwartzman is woefully shortchanged in a role that somehow reduces him to both the butt of too many jokes and a token villain just for being the quiet one, desperate to connect.

Moretz also struggles with an under-written part, Sessa isn’t afforded the time his romantic arc really deserves to offer any kind of feel-good glow, and Peacemaker’s Danielle Brooks is bafflingly wasted as a delivery driver working on Christmas, who promises to provide Claire with a travelling companion (a la Planes, Trains…) but who gets left behind within minutes of coming into it.

What fun there is to be had with this film feels in short supply. And while watchably bad feels less damning than intolerably bad (as is the case with so many Christmas movies), it fails as both a tribute to mothers and as the type of seasonal offering you would want to keep returning to.

Certificate: 12A

Running time: 108mins