A fifty-year-old couple played by Franck Dubosc and Emmanuelle Devos welcome two elderly people on Christmas Eve in France.
Between bad boulevard theater and worn-out mainstream comedy, the second feature film by French filmmaker and theater man Clément Michel is not really comical: it is distressingly stupid.
When his children cancel their New Year’s Eve party at the last minute, Vincent (Franck Dubosc) is very disappointed. He can’t imagine spending Christmas alone with his wife. On the advice of the priest at mass, he goes to a retirement home to invite an elderly person to come and celebrate at his home. To the great dismay of his wife who sees him arriving with two residents of the home. Two awkward old ladies who are getting a little too comfortable. And will create a happy mess.
Choosing the isolation and distress of elderly people during the holidays as the premise of a “family comedy” is a funny idea. But sometimes the miracle can happen and make a cinema classic, like with Santa Claus is Trash. You still need to have the talent of the Splendid troupe.
Here, the filmmaker only pushes clichés and jokes in bad taste, before falling three-quarters of the way through the film into a soppy moral and a predictable reconciliation at the end, with a 180-degree plot twist. We are no longer in the dramatic spring, but in the Goliath at La Ronde!
Then, to succeed in a comedy, you need to know how to direct actors. Here the distribution as a whole is zero. We play false (Emmanuelle Devos); we play sluggishly (Dubosc, equal to himself); or we overplay (Danièle Lebrun). As for Quebecer Danielle Fichaud (excellent as Maman Dion in Valérie Lemercier’s film, Aline), the actress is simply not in her place. She laboriously masks her Quebec accent while reciting her text. His crude and rude character causes more discomfort than laughter.
I will spare you the vulgarities and grotesque situations. In summary, Merry Christmas is a failure, a rubbish, and the worst Christmas gift you can give. To yourself or your family.
