A Merry Friggin' Christmas

Movie Title--  A Merry Friggin' Christmas

Release Year--  2014

Running Time--  1 Hour and 28 Minutes

Director--  Tristram Shapeero

Cast--  Robin Williams, Joel McHale, Lauren Graham, Clark Duke, Candice Bergen, Oliver Platt, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Time Heidecker, Pierce Gagnon, Bebe Wood, Ryan Lee, Amara Miller, Mark Proksch

Boyd Mitchler is forced to spend Christmas with his estranged family but when he realizes that he left his son's Christmas presents behind, he tries to make a 8 hour round trip before sunrise to save the idea of the magic of Christmas.

When Boyd Mitchler (Joel McHale) is 5 years old, his father ruins the magic of Christmas for him by telling him that Santa is not real.  In the present, Boyd is a grown man that has done well for himself.  He manages a hedge fund, is married to Luann (Lauren Graham) and has two children, Vera (Bebe Wood) and Douglas (Pierce Gagnon).  Although his daughter has outgrown the "Santa Claus" stage, his son Douglas still very much believes in Santa and because of this, Boyd does everything he can to preserve the innocents of the season for his son.

Boyd's perfect holiday plans hit a snag when his younger brother Nelson (Clark Duke) calls to tell Boyd that he had a newly acquired baby, due to his ex having an affair, getting pregnant and having a child, then abandoning the baby with Nelson.  Nelson then asks Boyd to be the Godfather to the child and when Boyd agrees, Nelson tells him that the baptism will be on Christmas Eve.  Boyd then realizes that attending the baptism means having to spend his holiday with the family he has estranged himself from.  Not wanting to disappoint his brother, Boyd and his family pack their things to make the trip to his parent's house.  

A mishap when they arrive causes Virgil "Mitch" Mitchler (Robin Williams) to come sarcastically back into Boyd's life.  After the baptism and a very tense Christmas Eve dinner, the children are sent to bed and as the adults are putting out the presents from Santa, Boyd realizes that Douglas' presents have been left at home.  Determined to keep Douglas' belief from being jeopardized, Boyd is determined to go on the round trip trek to his house and back before the kids wake up, but hits a few snags along the way.

So this film was only okay.  There were a few funny events but some of the jokes fell a little short and a lot of the humor was predictable.  It was like the script was given to Robin Williams and Joel McHale but they were told there wasn't much room for improvising.  It lacked some of the creativity and humor it could  have had if these two funny men would have been given a bit of creative license.

On top of that, Robin Williams was not the usual funny man he tends to be in his films.  He was moody, disgruntled and quite sad at times and the reflection of the film makes you wonder if that is how he truly felt or if he was just acting to the small amount of material he was given.

This is not going to be a memorable Christmas film.  The talent of the "funnymen" in this film just seems to be wasted in the long run.  If you are hoping for one last great Robin Williams film, you will only be disappointed if you watch this one.  Watch it because you want to see Robin Williams one last time but don't set your standards too high.  Make your own decision but Don't Forget the Popcorn!