Christmas with the Coopers (2015)

There’s quite a cast list to get through in this festive outing, directed by Jessie Nelson. Alan Arkin, John Goodman, Olivia Wilde, Diane Keaton, and Amanda Seyfried are just a few of the A-list names involved. Keaton and Goodman’s Charlotte and Sam are on the brink of divorce after forty years of marriage, but as the film begins, they are preparing a Christmas meal for the whole family, something they do every year, and Charlotte is determined that all of them enjoy one last Christmas without knowing of her and Sam’s plans. The film travels with every Cooper member who’s attending the get together on the lead up to the party; Wilde’s Eleanor stays for a drink or two at the airport bar to avoid her parents for another hour and meets Joe, a solider stuck at the airport for at least one more day (I wonder what might happen), Arkin’s Bucky has a row with a waitress he’s really close with when he realises it’s her last day at the diner (yawn) and so on and so forth. It’s attempting to be Love Actually (2003) but when you’re not aiming all that high things don’t tend to go well. Love Actually is far from perfect but it has undeniable Christmas charm, and (some) characters that are easy to get behind. Christmas with the Coopers has none of that, and apart from Diane Keaton and John Goodman who save it from total oblivion; it’s a dreadfully dull cash in on a holiday that simply doesn’t need it. 2.9/10