Love The Coopers

This review may contain spoilers!

This film is the lump of coal that signifies a terrible Christmas film. I would give Love The Coopers a 3.5/10.

Whoever edited this film really didn't get paid enough, I mean aside from the acting it was the masterful cutting that really pulled this film along. The style of the film created from the editing meant that some beats landed and the action of the film had more flow than the script really allowed for.

Diane Keaton, who played Charlotte, was the best I've seen her in recent years; Keaton was fantastic at acting flustered and really embodied the quirky mother role. Ed Helms, who played Hank, gave such a genuine performance; one of Helms' strengths is his ability to connect with others onscreen and develop a really engaging chemistry with them. Blake Baumgartner, who played Madison, was a phenomenal child performance in this film; her recurring joke was one of the better aspects of the film. Amanda Seyfried, who played Ruby, had so much chemistry with Arkin in this film; she was a very vulnerable role and Seyfried gave a great performance. Marisa Tomei, who played Emma, was erratic in this film in quite an entertaining way; I loved her scenes with Mackie as they were probably some of the best of the film. Olivia Wilde, who played Eleanor, wasn't the most immediately likeable character but Wilde really made her enjoyable; I liked seeing her play against Lacy and I certainly thought that their banter was a great aspect of the film. Jake Lacy, who played Joe, was a really likeable character in this film; Lacy brought so much charisma in this performance and he really stood out for me. Anthony Mackie, who played Officer Williams, was one of the very few actors in this film who presented an important theme really well; Mackie played a gay man and we understood the hardships of his life really well just from a couple of scenes with Mackie.

However the best performance came from Alan Arkin, who played Bucky. Arkin was the most likeable and charismatic person onscreen easily. I liked watching his scenes with Helms and Seyfried, he really connected with them and delivered some great lines alongside them. Ultimately I think I liked watching him try to extend a helping hand to someone who desperately needed it, one of the more inspired moments of the film even if the writer failed that particular storyline a bit.

Love The Coopers is an example of sloppy writing at it's lowest, sometimes you barely understand how characters are connected which is the very basic premise of the story. There are so many interweaving plotlines in this film but many of them are written poorly. For example Arkin and Seyfried having a sort of romance was strange, the Democratic/Republican accidental love story was obnoxious, the marital problems between Keaton and Goodman could have been developed much better. More often than not entire scenes of character development were dismissed offhand, one of the most significant examples was how Tomei elected to take a new approach after leaving Mackie then dismissed that in the very next scene. The pacing for this film was dragged out and I was barely engaged by the end of it. The choice to make the dog the narrator of the film was probably the nail on the coffin for this agonising Christmas tale. The cinematography was quite basic and it was very clear that the director didn't have much vision when it came to their own film. The soundtrack was all over the place, but most prominently it was slow and the film suffered for it.

John Goodman, who played Sam, felt like he was barely trying in this film; frankly he just seemed tired and I wasn't convinced he really cared. Alex Borstein, who played Angie, was a bit of an absurd over the top character; she was far too intense to be taken seriously. Timothee Chalamet and Molly Gordon, who played Charlie and Lauren Hesselberg respectively, presented the most disgusting plotline of the film; the two kids got to learn the joy of French kissing and nearly boning in a hospital (Hollywood you really outdo yourself every time). Maxwell Simkins, who played Bo, didn't have the ability to play a major role; he just wasn't a great child actor. June Squibb, who played Aunt Fishy, probably didn't need to be in this film; she was mostly there for the lowbrow humour.