Variety
Another half-formed feature from indie cinema's most prolific doodler... demonstrates that Joe Swanberg makes better babies than movies.
Full review
Happy Christmas
Anna Kendrick (Pitch Perfect) stars in this indie comedy as 20-something Jenny who had just suffered a break-up, prompting her to move in with her film-making brother Jeff (Joe Swanberg, You’re Next) and his novelist wife Kelly (Melanie Lynskey, TV’s Two and a Half Men).
Jenny’s hard-partying, booze-swigging ways shake the family’s idyllic life, as does her rocky relationship with their baby sitter-cum-pot dealer (Mark Webber, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World). Swanson also writes and directs, following up 2013’s Drinking Buddies. Co-stars Lena Dunham from TV’s Girls.
Less2014Rating: R1678 minsUSA
ComedyDrama
- Director:
- Joe Swanberg ('Drinking Buddies')
- Writer:
- Joe Swanberg
- Cast:
- Anna KendrickMelanie LynskeyJoe SwanbergLena DunhamMark Webber
Happy Christmas | Reviews
75%80 reviewsRotten Tomatoes® Score
All reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Time Out
Swanberg is good at futzing with our moment-to-moment expectations, but he can't shape all these well-acted scenes into a satisfying whole.
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The New York Times
A quiet, serious comedy about marriage, parenthood and the everyday strains of bringing up a rambunctious toddler while struggling to sustain a creative life.
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The Dissolve
Has the ramshackle, slice-of-life, ragged verisimilitude of mumblecore at its best, but fused with a story with actual momentum and unfailingly excellent performances by smartly cast professionals.
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SBS
The performances are so believable, and there's such warmth, that you're likely to leave the cinema with a smile and a nod to Swanberg for daring to make such good drama out of simple everyday scenarios.
Full review
Happy Christmas | Release Details
Happy Christmas is available to stream in New Zealand now on Google Play.