Joe Swanberg of Drinking Buddies fame is back with another rambling comedy about a twentysomething’s identity crisis and the subsequent effect on her friends and family in the dramedy, Happy Christmas. Almost immediately, the desperation stemming from the film’s protagonist Jenny (Anna Kendrick) will polarize audiences into either finding this mumblecore movie charming or not; I seemed to agree with the later.
Kendrick plays Jenny, who, broken-hearted after a nasty breakup, decides to move in with her married brother and his family. She arrives in Chicago and seems to have put the past behind her as she cheerfully greets her brother Jeff (played by the film’s writer/director, Swanberg), his wife Kelly (Melanie Lynskey) and their adorable son Jude (Jude Swanberg), Joe‘s own son (who also gave the best performance).
Dependability and trustworthiness are not Jenny’s strong suits, as she soon flakes on her babysitting obligations, stays up late drinking, and almost sets the house on fire. These moments, although intentionally comical, I found slightly agitating. If we as the audience are supposed to sympathize with Jenny or care about her well-being in the least, her blasé attitude certainly doesn’t help us do so. The mess she makes both literally and figuratively far outweigh the repercussions she faces, leading to my biggest critique, being that there are no apparent consequences to these scenarios- Jenny gets let off the hook far too easy for almost starting a fire that would have destroyed a family and Christmas.
The formula plays out much the same as it did in Drinking Buddies, lots of stuttering, careless attitudes from the female leads, and ultimately, no real punch or weight.
The supporting roles feel organic to the film- for example, the queen of the genre Lena Dunham plays Jenny’s best friend Carson. Her natural comedic timing and rapport with Kendrick make for enjoyable scenes, although, for those hoping to see Dunham play something other than her Hannah Horvath (Girls) persona, it’s a letdown. We see her as ” the actor Lena Dunham,” not as Carson, which proves challenging to give in to the suspension of disbelief, of which these types of films only barely ask you to do.
In true Swanberg form, the low-budget aesthetic and hand-held camera work is consistent with his previous films. The formula plays out much the same as it did in Drinking Buddies, lots of stuttering, careless attitudes from the female leads, and ultimately, no real punch or weight that defines “movies” as “movies.”
As a whole, Happy Christmas is a lighthearted film whose existence will be recognized by fans of Swanberg, but most likely overlooked by the rest. As I left the theater, I felt as if I had just witnessed an inside joke playing out on screen that I and the audience weren’t a part of, but we laughed politely and nodded our heads in acknowledgement anyways. Although there is no denying that little Jude Swanberg is worth the price of this ticket. All of the laughs generated from the film came from this two year old baby, and as I re-read my notes after the film, I realized I jotted down “Give that kid an Oscar!” Amidst all of the film’s kerfuffle, I still stand behind that.
