All I Want for Christmas

It's pretty shit, but it has that distinctive late 80's/early 90's aesthetic and feel of excessive white collar-America that made me nostalgic for many of the films of my youth. Ethan Embry's character is a highlight: a neurotic, manic depressive mess of a child and utterly unbelievable to the point of being fascinating. I'll bump it up a whole tier for the use of The Coaster's 'Yakety Yak' in the soundtrack.

If you told me that there existed a film featuring Lauren Bacall as the on-screen future mother-in-law of Kevin Nealon and that Bacall's on-screen granddaughter befriends Leslie Nielsen as Santa Clause, then I would not believe you. But here it is, and here I am reviewing it. While the schmultz factor is high, this is cut through with impressively sincere performances by Embry and Birch. This film would not be made these days; openly celebrating the upper-class life is a no-no!

There is so much about this movie that is really creepy. The dialog for the children is terrible. It was written by someone who has never spoken to a child in their whole life. There is a scene where Ethan Embry is sitting alone in his room watching old videos of his parents when they were still in love and crying. This scene is the grossest and least believable scene to have ever been filmed in history. I could understand if the father was the one doing this. But the adolescent child? GTFOOH!

Barely any Santa Claus involvement, despite the poster showing the kids stringing him up on a rope. I got a crappy divorce story with '80s teen dialogue and '90s family morality. The fiance's turn was awkward when they had to make him leave the picture. I'm just not interested in super wealthy kids (dad split up and still had a million-dollar loft and a diner?) and their superficial problems. Like the girl said, go see a shrink. Fav scenes: just seeing an older blue blood Bacall.

1

Beautiful little Christmas movie.

Hey I remember seeing this! I saw it in the theater when I was little! YES! Oh wait that's right I hated it.