Summary
- How to Ruin the Holidays is a relatable and emotional holiday film that tackles real-world problems often ignored in festive movies.
- The film features a stellar cast of comedians, including Amber Nash and Colin Mochrie, who deliver complex and hilarious performances.
- However, the movie’s impact is lessened by its questionable editing and cheesy music, at times resembling a Hallmark Christmas movie despite its unique casting.
How to Ruin the Holidays is a charming and emotional film that preaches the importance of family. How to Ruin the Holidays is packed with plenty of effective humor and heart, bolstered by performances from its cast of top-tier comic actors. Tackling themes of dysfunctional families, disability, and loss, this holiday film will surely resonate with a large audience. However, the film looses much of its impact with its questionable editing choices and cheesy music, forcing How to Ruin the Holidays to occasionally feel very much like a Hallmark Christmas film, despite its wonderfully different casting.
With a script from a semi-finalist at Stage 32’s Drama Screenwriting Contest, How to Ruin the Holidays begins by introducing audiences to Michelle (Amber Nash), a struggling comedian who spends her days auditioning for commercials, driving around Los Angeles, and performing improv shows to audiences who don’t particularly care. After her long days of failed auditions, Michelle returns to the LA apartment she shares with Suzy (Aisha Tyler), a fellow working-class comedian.
The two share a brief conversation about their careers and their aspirations in life, before bringing up the topic of spending Christmas with the folks. It’s a sore subject for Michelle, as she enthusiastically exclaims that she won’t be spending any time with them this year. Little does she know that she’ll receive a voicemail from her sister Andrea (Kate Lambert), gleaming about her newly written screenplay, while subtly mentioning that their father (Colin Mochrie) fell over. Despite her distaste for her family, Michelle almost immediately packs her bags, hops on a plane, and drives to her father’s house to spend Christmas with her family.
Michelle meets her sister Andrea outside, and Andrea explains that they need to force their father to sell his house. He and Mark (Luke Davis), their brother with disabilities, both need care. Michelle doesn’t believe her sister until she opens the door to a house full of clutter, fully cementing the fact that Michelle’s father can’t look after himself, let alone their brother. Pile this lack of mental stability with the fact that their father comes charging in the house with sirens claiming that it’s the end of the world. Worried about their father, Michelle, Andrea, and Mark must persuade him to sell the house, but not before a final Christmas as a family.
A Relatable Holiday Flick
How to Ruin the Holidays
Release Date November 2, 2023
Cast Amber Nash, Colin Mochrie, Aisha Tyler, Ronny Chieng, Henry Zebrowski
Runtime 93 min
Main Genre Christmas
Christmas is one of the most joyous times of the year. Take Christmas movies, for example. Is there any genre of film more joyous, infectious, or heartwarming than a Christmas movie? Seeing the warm flicker of Christmas lights, the wonderful sight of a Christmas tree with presents lying peacefully underneath, topped off by the sound of your favorite Christmas songs, all instantly brings a sense of comfort and bliss that isn’t found in any other genre. Even movies like Die Hard and Gremlins still spew with the magic, joy, and warmth of Christmas. With that said, however, there aren’t that many relatable Christmas films. Not many deal with the tragedies, banality, and reality of life, which many festive films brush away, pretending that subjects like loneliness, identity, death, and loss don’t exist at this time of year.
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Traditional Hallmark Christmas films are filled with unbelievable romances devoid of negativity or real world issues. Some Christmas films are packed with action. Some with scares. And some even star The Muppets. Whilst we absolutely adore a good handful of these movies in their own right, we have to admire and appreciate a Christmas film that tackles relatable, real world problems, which is where How to Ruin the Holidays truly shines.
Whether it be through emotional detachment, or a final interaction that didn’t end on particularly great terms, the film’s story will speak to many audiences who detest spending Christmastime with their folks. Similarly, How to Ruin the Holidays will speak to those with aging parents, best shown through the worry Michelle, Andrea, and Mark feel for their father.
Yet, what How to Ruin the Holidays does best is highlight the familial relationship of a sibling with disabilities, and the impact it has on them and those around them. This is mostly due to the movie being based on writer/producer Kevin Gillese’s real relationship with his brother, and that authenticity leads to many touching and honest moments between Mark and Michelle, Andrea, and their father. One of the best scenes in the movie sees Michelle and her father having a heartwarming conversation in their shed, touching upon the impact of a child with disabilities, and the distance their loved ones will go to protect them.
A Great Comedic Cast Who Offer Complex Performances
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How to Ruin the Holidays is stacked with a fantastic cast of comedians. Amber Nash, most known for her voice work in FX’s animated adult comedy Archer, makes her feature film debut starring alongside the likes of Colin Mochrie, Aisha Tyler, Ronny Chieng, and Henry Zebrowski, who all offer hilarious, multi-layered performances. Nash explodes into the world of live-action feature films with a strong, generous performance. While cracking hilarious one-liners, Nash seamlessly captures the many flaws of her character.
Colin Mochrie, who typically delivers some of the best lines on the hit improv show Whose Line Is it Anyway?, surprisingly steeps into his emotional side, delivering an outstanding performance with layers we really weren’t expecting. Yet, the most engaging and entertaining performance has to go to Luke Davis as Michelle’s brother Mark. Davis will instantly capture the hearts of audiences with his pitch perfect line delivery, and viewers will choke up during the more emotional moments of the movie with him.
Related: 20 Greatest Comedy Movie Actors of All Time
Hallmark Christmas Movie Sins
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How to Ruin the Holidays could easily have been one of the more impactful and unforgettable festive films of the year. However, due to its occasional ‘Hallmarkification,’ the movie’s impact is greatly lessened. Love them or hate them, Hallmark Christmas movies are far from perfect. They’re often plagued by cheesy acting, mind-boggling editing choices, and sappy music that either overwhelms the direction or never fits the tone. And where How to Ruin the Holidays falls flat is with its editing and music choices, which feel lifted from the Hallmark method.
To be fair, the film’s editing is predominantly sound, but there are a few moments that disrupt the flow of the movie, leaving audiences squirming in their seats. Its music isn’t as painful as something like Christmas Wishes & Mistletoe Kisses, but it’s still full of that gleeful, optimistic music and sound design which is more often than not played way too loud, and during moments where a character does something “silly.” The questionable editing and unforgivable music lessens the impact of this otherwise charming, emotional, and relatable flick. Still, it’s a strong step above most holiday films, and it has a wonderful cast, with a truly unforgettable performance from Luke Davis.
How to Ruin the Holidays is currently in select theaters, and will also be released digitally on December 1st. You can find out more at the website here. You can watch the trailer below:
You can view the original article HERE.
