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Happy Christmas

Happy Christmas

2014
Romance, Comedy
1h 22m
Irresponsible 20-something Jenny arrives in Chicago to live with her older brother Jeff, a young filmmaker living a happy existence with his novelist wife Kelly and their two-year-old son. Jenny's arrival shakes up their quiet domesticity as she and her friend Carson instigate an evolution in Kelly's life and career. Meanwhile, Jenny strikes up a rocky relationship with the family's baby sitter-cum-pot dealer (imdb)
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Happy Christmas

2014
Romance, Comedy
1h 22m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 43.2% from 207 total ratings

Ratings & Reviews

(207)
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Rated 21 Mar 2018
65
48th
A likable movie with realistic characters that serves almost entirely as events to witness without necessarily serving any greater purpose than to represent real people with real people problems. I don't know you personally but I could see you loving or hating this movie. That last sentence might become my criticker copypasta. At least for Swanberg's films. My third Swanberg flick after Drinking Buddies and Digging for Fire. I'd rank them 1,1,1 in that order.
Rated 02 Jan 2015
70
22nd
About 2/3 into this I realized that these nothing-happening, low-stakes indie jaunts are rapidly becoming for mid-30s me what awful Friday the 13th sequels were for teenage me. And yet, omething about Swanberg's approach appeals to me, still, even after this movie in which the climactic scene was set in motion by a character falling asleep and burning a pizza in the oven. But boy, at 82 minutes, this is REALLY pushing what it means to be a "movie". Paper thin and slapdash to the nines.
Rated 23 Apr 2018
73
61st
It was a really nice basement
Rated 16 Dec 2018
80
63rd
Happy Christmas is a real story about Christmas for many young 20 to 30-somethings. Many people will call this movie a millennial movie and it is but that doesn't make it any less spot-on. I've never seen any other Swanberg movies but this guy is insanely prolific. Kendrick, who is fantastic in this movie, plays a girl who doesn't have her shit together and goes to live with her brother. Lynskey does a great job in this movie as well, playing a stay-at-home mom who writes but wants more.
Rated 08 Nov 2014
73
49th
Joe Swanberg creates a world which he understands and in doing so breathes remarkable life into the characters that are born from them. This modest yet touching tale of compromise and family life is another indication that Swanberg is someone with an interesting view on things, but all to often comes stuck in trying to organize those views into something cohesive and memorable.
Rated 02 Jul 2014
62
35th
This screams Sundance!
Rated 24 Nov 2014
70
41st
It started off terrible and I thought it would be another Swanberg flop but it turned itself around. At first it seemed like everyone was just overreacting to situations and it didn't seem natural but it became more organic as time went on and though the movie is small, it's a nice look at a specific moment in time with characters that do feel alive. It got a little humorous and believable. The baby kicks a lot of ass too... genuinely funny.
Rated 25 Feb 2015
70
49th
This is a cut-and-paste American indie that hits all its beats really well. There's certainly a feeling of authenticity to the family dynamics at play in the film. Part of this is probably personal on my side; my sister had a baby a couple of years ago and I am still the Anna Kendrick character aimlessly enjoying life as a twenty-something. The performances in the film are likewise very compelling in their casual realism. The title is really unhelpful for trying to recommend it to folks.
Rated 26 Apr 2015
62
53rd
Every I'm-high moment is really cute -- even when Jenny fucks things up by forgetting a pizza in the stove --, because the films bring such a lazy, warm sense of discovery and despair as she hangs out drinking and smoking pot. Her unease ends up helping her bro's wife to find her inner voice and write again. Can't complain if this is too loose , as the drinking scene with Jenny, Kelly and Carson stands out -- an authentic late-20s-to-mid-30s speech about angst and confusion.
Rated 09 Dec 2014
73
37th
If you looking for a traditional Christmas movie this is not one of those films. This movie is more of a drama that takes place during Christmas time. Anna Kendrick is excellent in the lead role. The supporting cast also does good work here. Overall I would recommend this film.
Rated 24 Feb 2015
50
47th
Happy Christmas is a mumblecore movie about a married couple, the sister of one of them, and lots and lots of conversations about topics such as growing up, parenthood, and relationships. If you know what a mumblecore movie is, then you just learned everything that you need to. If you don't, then you're in for a surprise. It's a better movie than Joe Swanberg's last effort, Drinking Buddies, and it's relatively effective at doing what it wants to.
Rated 28 Jan 2014
88
66th
A small but ultimately very likable and relatable film with fantastic performances all around. Features one of the best babies you'll ever see.
Rated 17 Dec 2014
77
81st
A lovely little character study featuring two of the best working actresses today.
Rated 01 Jan 2015
90
85th
Wonderful, wonderful movie. From the first image on screen I was 100% invested. I'm not totally convinced that Lena Dunham is actually a good actress but... you know... whatever, I'm over it.
Rated 19 Dec 2015
8
9th
The baby was good.
Rated 22 Dec 2014
69
68th
Either Swanberg has been watching Alex Ross Perry's movies or he just suddenly acquired a penchant for grainy 16mm and started to sort of care about aesthetics. Either way, the result is certainly his best looking film if nothing else, but also probably his most well-balanced and all-around "accomplished". It does sort of present a utopia of white Hipster Parent niceness, but at times the effect actually isn't too far removed from mumblecore Capra, as ridiculous as that sounds.
Rated 04 Dec 2014
3
38th
I dig Joe Swanberg's little slice-of-life indie dramadies. Anna Kendrick nails the not-quite-an-adult-adult who's a blast to hang out with and still an immature high schooler when it comes to shit that matters.
Rated 16 Apr 2018
4
51st
The fact that a movie with Anna Kendrick and Lena Dunham in it was as enjoyable as it was is a feat. One of Swanbergs better looking films.
Rated 17 Dec 2018
1
20th
Coulda gone a mumblecore Christmas, this lot can't improv for shit though
Rated 18 Dec 2019
50
9th
Shestayedwithbroandhiswife-substanceproblems-keptfuckingup-gothiswifeinonsomeBSlolthenfuckedupagain-wifeforgivesetc
Rated 17 Jan 2021
65
42nd
This is only 7 years old but already feels like it's from a past era. Joe Biden bring back mumblecore
Rated 23 Sep 2021
65
65th
Advanced stage mumblecore. Pretty good. Anna Kendrick as hornball. Stay for the post-ending-credits scene.
Rated 15 Nov 2021
20
4th
Seen: 2. This faux Christmas mumblecore fooled me and my wife twice, years apart, as we were looking for something a bit different in a Christmas movie.

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