Joe Swanberg directs "Happy Christmas". Like most of his previous features, the film is heavily improvised and only loosely scripted.
The plot? Anna Kendrick plays Jenny, a cute but irresponsible young woman who spends a few days hanging out with Kelly (Melanie Lynskey), the wife of her older brother. Kelly's a serious, pragmatic and focused woman, whose life has been forged by the responsibilities of being a wife, mother and writer. Jenny, in contrast, is lackadaisical and directionless. The duo's contrasting personalities lead to several low-key clashes.
"Happy Christmas" climaxes with Jenny helping Kelly write an erotic-novel. Here, female sexuality, fantasy and the possibility of transgression, "liberate" Kelly from her perceived obligations. By the film's end, the soft-spoken Kelly and the reckless Jenny reach a point of mutual appreciation. Enlivening this straightforward narrative arc is some fine, raw, naturalistic acting. The film co-stars Lena Dunham. Swanberg's own three-year-old son steals the show, though; one of the best "baby acting" roles of all time, he out-cutes a cast full of cuties.
7.9/10 - Worth one viewing.
The plot? Anna Kendrick plays Jenny, a cute but irresponsible young woman who spends a few days hanging out with Kelly (Melanie Lynskey), the wife of her older brother. Kelly's a serious, pragmatic and focused woman, whose life has been forged by the responsibilities of being a wife, mother and writer. Jenny, in contrast, is lackadaisical and directionless. The duo's contrasting personalities lead to several low-key clashes.
"Happy Christmas" climaxes with Jenny helping Kelly write an erotic-novel. Here, female sexuality, fantasy and the possibility of transgression, "liberate" Kelly from her perceived obligations. By the film's end, the soft-spoken Kelly and the reckless Jenny reach a point of mutual appreciation. Enlivening this straightforward narrative arc is some fine, raw, naturalistic acting. The film co-stars Lena Dunham. Swanberg's own three-year-old son steals the show, though; one of the best "baby acting" roles of all time, he out-cutes a cast full of cuties.
7.9/10 - Worth one viewing.