Basically what I expected it to be. It captures the Christmas spirit by being pleasant but ultimately a lot of it feels hollow and cheesy. The first 90 minutes continuously revolve around this theme of the individual’s nobility for a community getting in the way of their personal dreams, which is a fine idea to build a movie around but it starts to feel repetitive after a while. Add to that that so much of the comedy comes across as painfully corny now, and I wasn’t really into it for a while. There’s just wasn’t enough going on dramatically to keep me intrigued besides Stewart’s great performance. However, this film really sticks the landing, capturing some powerful emotion in a way that feels heartwarming and authentic. It also starts to take a little more risk with its storytelling and presentation, basically becoming this statement about the value of life that’s delivered in a way I found quite creative. This makes up for (and even recontextualizes) some of the storytelling in the first two acts, but I don’t think it’s deserving of its classic status. Even the filmmaking is just fine, it doesn’t measure up to some of the stuff made by Hitchcock and Fellini around the same time.
Review by JordyVIP 8BlockedParent2023-12-25T11:53:47Z
Basically what I expected it to be. It captures the Christmas spirit by being pleasant but ultimately a lot of it feels hollow and cheesy. The first 90 minutes continuously revolve around this theme of the individual’s nobility for a community getting in the way of their personal dreams, which is a fine idea to build a movie around but it starts to feel repetitive after a while. Add to that that so much of the comedy comes across as painfully corny now, and I wasn’t really into it for a while. There’s just wasn’t enough going on dramatically to keep me intrigued besides Stewart’s great performance. However, this film really sticks the landing, capturing some powerful emotion in a way that feels heartwarming and authentic. It also starts to take a little more risk with its storytelling and presentation, basically becoming this statement about the value of life that’s delivered in a way I found quite creative. This makes up for (and even recontextualizes) some of the storytelling in the first two acts, but I don’t think it’s deserving of its classic status. Even the filmmaking is just fine, it doesn’t measure up to some of the stuff made by Hitchcock and Fellini around the same time.
5.5/10