15/12/25

Amazon Prime Video

Honestly, we’re not the target audience for Michael Showalter’s Oh. What. Fun. There are lots of lovely people out there who just revel in a Christmas movie – but we’re not them. Still, as reviewers, it falls to us to watch as wide a range as possible, and – as it’s charting well on Amazon Prime – we feel we really ought to give this one a go. Also, Chloë Grace Moretz is in it, and we’ve liked everything else she’s done. So that’s how we find ourselves snuggled up under a blanket watching a festive film on a Monday afternoon, the very model of the cosy winter aesthetic we usually reject (because summer and sunshine are just better, right?).

Anyway. This is basically Home Alone in reverse. Every year, Claire (Michelle Pfeiffer) puts vast amounts of effort into creating the perfect middle-class American Christmas for her husband, Nick (Denis Leary), and their grown-up family. The trouble is, her kids (Felicity Jones, Dominic Sessa and Moretz respectively) kind of resent the pressure she puts on them: they don’t want to feel obliged to come ‘home’ every year, exaggerating their appreciation for all those extra, unasked-for flourishes Claire insists on. It’s the opposite of relaxing, the antithesis of fun.

Needy Claire isn’t happy either. She desperately wants one of her kids to nominate her as a ‘Zazzy Tims Christmas Mom’ so that she can win a ticket to a recording of her favourite TV show, hosted by her role model, Zazzy (Eva Longoria). But of course, Channing (Jones), Sammy (Sessa) and Taylor (Moretz) fail to respond to her many hints, so it seems a trip to California is not on the cards…

…until Christmas Eve, when Claire’s entire family – husband, kids, partners, grandkids – fail to notice that she’s not with them at the theatre for the So You Think You Can Dance tour, which she arranged (and paid for) as an extra surprise. Alone and forgotten in an empty house, Claire decides it’s time to do something for herself. And off she heads to Hollywood.

If it’s nuance you’re after, this is not the film for you. There’s no subtlety at all: everything is laid on with the proverbial trowel, from Taylor’s over-the-top rudeness towards Channing’s well-meaning husband, Doug (Jason Schwartzman), to the unfiltered bitchiness of Claire’s ‘perfect’ neighbour, Jeanne (Joan Chen). What’s more, it’s hard to feel much sympathy for Claire, with her massive McMansion and basically decent kin. There’s never any real jeopardy or heartbreak here.

Oh. What. Fun. hasn’t changed my feelings about Christmas films, but it’s not a bad movie. In fact, it’s very watchable. So why not pour yourself a glass of mulled wine, switch on the fairy lights and enjoy a bit of lighthearted… well… fun.

3 stars

Susan Singfield