Wilmer Valderrama and Andie MacDowell co-star in this seasonal treat that is full of family fun.
Plot: Follows an American couple taking their daughter Claire to her grandfather Lawrence’s grand hotel in Italy to tell her they’re breaking up. Claire insists on celebrating Christmas in August to bring the family together, leading to unexpected complications. Claire’s other grandparents arrive to join the festivities, bringing secrets and adding further intricacy.
Review: It is that time of year again as new Christmas movies are hitting screens big and small. Typically, unless it is a big studio production, we don’t cover a lot of holiday movies on this site as they can often feel like nothing more than a Hallmark or Lifetime original project. The new film A Sudden Case of Christmas is somewhere in the middle. Boasting the great Danny DeVito, A Sudden Case of Christmas also features Andie MacDowell and Wilmer Valderrama, as well as Lucy DeVito, the daughter of Danny and Rhea Perlman. A screwball comedy of errors combined with an unexpected holiday theme, A Sudden Case of Christmas is a mix of family-friendly humor with some mature themes that sometimes feel at odds with one another. But, it is still a charming showcase for the elder and younger DeVitos.
A Sudden Case of Christmas is set in the beautiful Dolomite Mountains of Italy, a location not commonly seen in American films. In the film, the mountain range is home to an exclusive hotel resort owned by Lawrence Armanetti (Danny DeVito), a widower struggling to keep the place open with dwindling reservations. Lawrence is also preparing for a summer visit from his granddaughter Claire Randall (Antonella Rose), who is coming with Lawrence’s daughter, Abbie (Lucy DeVito), and son-in-law Jacob (Wilmer Valderrama). Excited to see his family, Lawrence is shocked that Abbie and Jacob have decided to get divorced and wants to break the news to Claire during the visit. When Claire finds out, she comes up with a plan to celebrate one last family Christmas despite it being six months early. The family obliges and invites Jacobs’s parents, Rose (Andie MacDowell) and Mark (Jose Zuniga), and the shenanigans begin.
When I started watching A Sudden Case of Christmas, I was preparing for a Hallmark-esque comedy full of wholesome humor and far too many Yuletide puns. There is a lot going on in this film that makes it difficult to qualify it as one particular film. Yes, it falls into the blander category of made-for-television holiday films, but it also has elements that deviate from that formula. On the one hand, the film focuses on Claire and the local preteens around the hotel, who have a subplot that involves boyfriends and dating that takes about four years to mature the characters. There is also a plot involving an extramarital affair involving one of the main characters, who feels out of place for a family-friendly project. Elements of this story could have worked better if the film had been remade as a randy PG-13 comedy or a kid-centric PG movie, but it instead splits the difference and tries to do both.
While this movie could easily have been written off as just an opportunity for Danny DeVito and his daughter to enjoy a nice Italian vacation while filming for a month, it does benefit from the father and daughter having some fun chemistry. Danny DeVito has been seen on screen for so many years that he easily could have phoned this performance in, but the genuine energy he brings along with Lucy had me smiling throughout the film. Most of the cast do a decent job of not letting this turn into a bland cash grab, especially Adrian Dunbar, who plays jack-of-all-trades Otto as one of the funnier elements of the film. The surprising standout is Antonella Rose, who plays Claire with a skill well beyond her years. Child actors can be either too much or not enough, but Rose has the potential to be a solid performer for years to come, based on what she does in this movie.
Written by director Peter Chelsom alongside Tinker Lindsay, A Sudden Case of Christmas is mired in the holiday stereotypes of every Christmas movie that came before it. The unique Italian setting does give the film a distinctiveness that otherwise would have had it blend into every other film released at this time of year. Chelsom, known for directing Hannah Montana: The Movie, Shall We Dance?, Serendipity, Town & Country, and more, has extensive experience writing and directing romantic comedies. A Sudden Case of Christmas is his first holiday feature, and it does show that while he has the skill behind the camera to adeptly handle the multiple romantic subplots going on, he relies too heavily on tried-and-true Christmas themes that bog down this story in tropes used countless times to better effect.
A Sudden Case of Christmas is not a bad movie, but it is also not a great one. With so many Christmas films, the biggest mistake you can make is falling in with the pack. Thanks to Danny DeVito and Lucy DeVito sharing as much chemistry on screen as they do in real life, A Sudden Case of Christmas benefits from a talented ensemble who have fun with the material. You could do a lot worse than this film and will likely have a happy group of family around the television if you put this on during the get-together this December.
A Sudden Case of Christmas opens in theaters, digital, and on demand on November 8th.
