Watchable but a bit disappointing. It seemed like Swanberg had taken a big step forward with "Drinking Buddies," and this one seems like a step back, deeper into the indie fringe of rambling, unresolved plot lines and hummina-hummina improv. I liked Anna Kendrick in the Owen Wilson part, and I liked the relationship that develops between the loose-cannon sister-in-law and the stay-at-home writer/mom; nice that lovely Melanie Lynskey gets to speak with her native Kiwi ic-cent for a change. The scenes where the ladies, assisted by Lena Dunham, brainstorm for best-selling-dirty-book ideas aren't especially clever or funny, but they did bring back memories of what it's like to be twenty-seven
Big props to then three-year-old Jude Swanberg, who has a real flair for mumblecore, and to whoever scouted the house with the tiki-themed rec room. I should also mention that my wife, no fan of this school of low-tech, unscripted cinema, gives this one zero stars.
Review of Happy Christmas
