I often say that in movies of this genre you need to suspend a demand for reality. Unfortunately in this movie that suspension of reality takes us so far that fairy tales and other pure fantasy stories become more believable despite the fact that this movie is set firmly in our own world. Chevy Chase is intentionally an exaggerated Scrooge with more interest in milk shakes than people. Tan milk shakes, whatever that means. You don't liquidate a major manufacturing business in 3-4 weeks, not can you suddenly sell $2M worth of product that you haven't even tooled up or bought materials for. But they hang a lantern on this by repeatedly saying they need a Miracle.
I was willing to go along with this way overused plot device despite the impossibilities until we got to the main conflict scene between Riley and Wyatt. The other plot device in almost every movie of this type is the big lie. All she had to do to defuse Wyatt was convince him that she was losing her job as a result of what she did. Even without that, it should have been obvious from her behavior that she had switched sides. The story depended on this conflict and yet it was very poorly executed in terms of writing and circumstances.
Chemistry? Maybe some eventually developed, but how? One single walk between work and the hotel followed eventually by Riley's hard work alongside Wyatt? Even that was poorly executed. She had more contact and better chemistry with Nick. One of the problems was that the antagonism between Riley and Wyatt was so fierce and more importantly, went so deep into the movie, that the reversal was weak. It wasn't convincing.
Abigail Hawk plays an interesting role which I never totally figured out. Was she a go-getter, ruthless rising corporate star? Certainly Hawk showed that this woman had her doubts about that approach early on and possibly some indecision and insecurities that belied such a cut throat exec. I may be willing to suspend reality in these movies, but I always hate when they helicopter a character into a role that her personality clearly contradicts without at least showing how the change occurs (and even then personality doesn't change overnight). You don't get into the rising star situation without years of focused hard work. Writers treat it like history begins immediately after the credits and they can create any past they want without regard to basic personality.
David O'Donnell and Howard Hesseman are fine in their roles with the possible exception that O'Donnell was angry for too long and didn't show enough of a softer side, but that was writing and directing.
I knew what the mechanism would be for saving the company, but I couldn't figure out where it would come from. I wasn't paying attention to a key character in the beginning. I will give the story huge props for subtly foreshadowing the resolution even way back in the beginning. This was well executed.
I was willing to go along with this way overused plot device despite the impossibilities until we got to the main conflict scene between Riley and Wyatt. The other plot device in almost every movie of this type is the big lie. All she had to do to defuse Wyatt was convince him that she was losing her job as a result of what she did. Even without that, it should have been obvious from her behavior that she had switched sides. The story depended on this conflict and yet it was very poorly executed in terms of writing and circumstances.
Chemistry? Maybe some eventually developed, but how? One single walk between work and the hotel followed eventually by Riley's hard work alongside Wyatt? Even that was poorly executed. She had more contact and better chemistry with Nick. One of the problems was that the antagonism between Riley and Wyatt was so fierce and more importantly, went so deep into the movie, that the reversal was weak. It wasn't convincing.
Abigail Hawk plays an interesting role which I never totally figured out. Was she a go-getter, ruthless rising corporate star? Certainly Hawk showed that this woman had her doubts about that approach early on and possibly some indecision and insecurities that belied such a cut throat exec. I may be willing to suspend reality in these movies, but I always hate when they helicopter a character into a role that her personality clearly contradicts without at least showing how the change occurs (and even then personality doesn't change overnight). You don't get into the rising star situation without years of focused hard work. Writers treat it like history begins immediately after the credits and they can create any past they want without regard to basic personality.
David O'Donnell and Howard Hesseman are fine in their roles with the possible exception that O'Donnell was angry for too long and didn't show enough of a softer side, but that was writing and directing.
I knew what the mechanism would be for saving the company, but I couldn't figure out where it would come from. I wasn't paying attention to a key character in the beginning. I will give the story huge props for subtly foreshadowing the resolution even way back in the beginning. This was well executed.