A Merry Friggin' Christmas

As a Robin Williams fan, I'm sad to say that this, one of his last films before he died, was not a good one. This is not the film by which you should remember the late great Robin Williams. It is an affront to his legacy as a great comedian and actor. This is a forgettable film that will forever be overshadowed by his much better performances, and relegated to the dustbin of sub-par forgotten Christmas films, of which there are many. Now I'm not criticizing Williams, I think he was a wonderful actor but this film thoroughly stinks and, well, he signed on to play a role in it. The writing was pretty bad and the dialogue felt forced and unnatural. It felt like the actors were playing parodies of dysfunctional characters from other family films. Joel McHale was very dry and awkward throughout the film. His delivery did not come across as genuine and the scenes where he was supposed to be emotional felt fake. I felt the highlight of the film was actually the interactions between two side characters: Luann played by Lauren Graham, who you know as the mom from Gilmore Girls, and the always delightful Candice Bergen infamously known for her character Murphy Brown. There is a section of the film where these two, annoyed by the antics of their respective spouses, decide to drink until intoxication while reminiscing and goofing off. It is genuinely the highlight of otherwise dreary 88 minute mess.

While the premise is so often overdone, family drama (exploited for comedy), I still had hopes that there would be something here to enjoy. Joel McHale plays the successful son who is embarrassed by his family and moves states away (did that myself!) to avoid the conflict. He is so embarrassed, he cuts his father's picture out of the family portrait. Ouch. Robin Williams and Candice Bergen play the parents who seem to be living through a delusional dysfunction. Neither is given enough room to be funny, and come off looking a bit tired and wishing it was over. I sort of expected the giant Christmas miracle at the end to fulfill the schmaltz, but even that is lacking. The mysterious 'Santa' turns out to be a drunk, homeless guy. Nothing magical about it. I wish they would have played more along the family issues. The family pervert really is just another drunk member of the family. The son with PTSD is really just overly weird as a defense mechanism, and the successful son hates his job and wishes he were an artist. Cue the eye rolling.

"Get in the truck Gladys, we've got Christmas to save." Boyd (McHale) has just learned that he will be spending Christmas with his father Mitch (Williams) and the rest of his family. What should be a happy time becomes stressful for everyone when Boyd realizes that he left his son's presents at home. After his car breaks down Mitch and Boyd set out on a road trip to save Christmas. I've thought of ways to start this review without starting with the obvious but I can't. Robin Williams was my 2nd favorite actor (behind Al Pacino) and I was devastated at the news. That both helps and hurt the movie. I think it helps because (right or wrong) the movie will get more exposure than it probably would have got otherwise. On the other hand it is impossible to watch this without thinking of what happened and that takes you out of the movie. All that said I thought the movie was very funny and I recommend it, but the comedy is hurt knowing that this is one of the last times you will get to see the genius of Robin Williams at work. Seeing him play a crotchety old man paired with the McHale who plays a father trying way to hard is a perfect combination and the chemistry really works. This is one of those movies where things seem to just get worse and worse but at the same time funnier and funnier. Every member of the family adds something different and that makes it very fun to watch. Overall, a movie that is very funny but contains an unintentional tinge of sadness. I give it a B.

'A MERRY FRIGGIN' Christmas': Four Stars (Out of Five) Dark comedy Christmas movie featuring Robin Williams in one of his last completed film roles. The movie also stars Joel McHale, Lauren Graham, Clark Duke, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Tim Heidecker, Candice Bergen and Oliver Platt. It was directed by Tristram Shapeero; a TV director, most well known for directing several episode of 'COMMUNITY' (also starring McHale). The screenplay was written by first time film writer Michael Brown and tells the story of a father trying to make an eight- hour round trip, to get forgotten presents for his son, by Christmas morning. I found the movie to be very TV formulaic but also boldly funny (hilarious in places). Boyd Mitchler (McHale) had his illusions of Santa Claus shattered for him, by his drunken father Mitch (Williams), at a very young age. He doesn't want that magical childhood belief, in Santa, to be ruined for his son, Douglas (Pierce Gagnon), by anyone. Boyd hates his father, for an upbringing of abuse, and hasn't spoken to him in years. So when his younger brother, Nelson (Duke), asks him to come to his new son's baptism, in the town they grew up in, it's a nightmare for Boyd. Especially when he realizes he forgot his son's Christmas presents, late Christmas Eve, and decides to make an eight-hour round trip to get them (before morning). His dad comes along to help out. The film feels just like a TV movie, and for that reason I couldn't get into it at first, but the more I watched it the more I realized how funny it really is. The performances are all great (especially Williams, Duke and Heidecker) and the screenplay is brilliant; it's that funny. The TV style directing and poor production values do bring the overall feel of the film down a bit but I still think it could be a Christmas movie classic (for some people). I wouldn't mind seeing it again, at least a few more times. It's a really good film for Williams to exit cinema with as well (although it's not his last). He hadn't made anything this funny in years! Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: http://youtu.be/bPyUBLHQdWM

This film tells the story of a hedge fund manager who goes home to spend the Christmas with his estranged family. He forgets to bring along with him the Christmas present for his son, and has to go on a long journey to rectify his mistake. I watched this because it's one of Robin Williams' final films. He plays a grumpy old man who seems to know how to enjoy life, as opposed to his son, who goes a long way to try to be a good father. The plot is very weak, however, and I don't really care for any of the characters. The jokes, which include Nelson the supposedly a war hero, and the recurrent police encounters, are simply not funny. I find "A Merry Friggin' Christmas" a huge disappointment. The only good thing is that the main bulk of the film only runs for 73 minutes.

Boyd Mitchler: "Look kids it's snowing". Mitch: "It might be ashes". Boyd (Played by Joel McHale) and his family (Played Robin Williams) who are forced to spend a dreaded Christmas at his parents' house with his eccentric father that he has been avoiding for years. When he realizes that he left his son's gifts at home. This movie has it's good, it's bad and lot of scenes that made me go "No way, I can't believe they did that". Some of the acting in this was pretty good: Joel McHale, Clark Duke and the great Robin Williams all do fantastic job in their roles. While watching this movie I go that sense of the Christmas spirit in side of me, which I always like when movies or TV shows get that sense of feeling of whatever season it's celebrating right. This movie has it's bad like: Some of the acting in this movie wasn't all that good and the movies message about the true meaning of Christmas got lost in it's messy script and it's numbing characters. Joel McHale character in this movie was such a Jerk and a peace of work. I hated his character so much, because he was so annoying and so rude to his father, and yes I know his father abused him when he was a little kid but we never see that, even in the the flash backs when he was a little boy and his father didn't abuse him at all. At times his father seems really nice and really caring for his son, at one point he tries to his son and the son pretty much says "F'ck off!", to him. A Merry Friggin' Christmas has it's ups and downs, but the three good actors really done carry this movie for me making it a merry Christmas indeed.

I found this movie on Netflix, and I wondered how come I didn't see a trailer for this in the theaters or on TV? With such a solid cast, it should be good? After watching it, the best word that comes to mind is "disappointing". Whomever wrote & directed this clunker shouldn't quit their day job. I would imagine that they lost big money after paying this cast. The story is terrible and stupid. Such a waste of great talent like Candice Bergen and Robin Williams. They aren't even believable as a married couple. It's very sad that this was Robin Williams' last films. Especially when you think of all the classic characters that he played over the years, that he would choose such a badly written/directed film. The movie is depressing & lame. Now I know why it wasn't successful in the theaters. A total clunker.

This was pretty hard to watch as it star one of my idols the late Robin Williams who dose a fantastic job a playing this grump old former alcoholic father who was never really there for he's kids, he's performance is as away perfect its such a sad time to see a great actor pass from us. Although i wouldn't really say this is a comedy in a way as it very depressing & bleak at time's but you get why this is as it set a tone more as a drama than a comedy as you see the son Boyd Mitchler played by Joel McHale who seem to hate his father for never being around & always being drunk. The story goes along at a stead pace as you see the character's develop, it soon becomes this family bonding time with his father as he force to go back home to get something for he own son. What clever is this film show just how damaging curtain bad thing happen in family's can be this is where this film start to take on a bleak dark tone of sadness, it not really a funny comedy its more of a black comedy drama type film in a way but still worth watching. Dislikes : Comedy's are meant to lift you up & make you feel good, this just ended up making me depressed just because of the tone of the film, although i thought it was good film, but this is far from a comedy lack the laughter & light humour.

This is not trolling, neither do i want this comment to sound disrespectful in any way. Watched the movie for robins sake, as it was one of his last movies. Family Christmas themed comedy, yay! Though, what it really was, is just an awfully written drama. First thing that came to my mind after finishing the movie was disturbing, but i think there's a lot of truth in it. Basically what i thought was that this movie took a part in what killed him. If i casted in such movie, i'd want to kill myself too. I didn't find single scene even slightly funny. All it has been is marathon of sadness. Robin dedicated his life to laughter and making people around happy and the opportunities and surroundings have just thrown bricks beneath his feet. If i met the person that wrote this script in person, i'd throw in a few punches. I'm not a violent person, but how can one make Christmas themed comedy with robin williams in cast this sad? I'm not even going to comment the movie/plot itself, as it's not worthy of words. I give this movie 2/10, and that one point goes purely to robin and his utter genius. I adored robin while he was around, and forever will.

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