A Very Merry Mix-up / 2013 / made-for-tv movie
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| "What are the chances that each of our families has a deep romantic tradition tied to clocks?" |
A dead father looms large over this enterprise. Family is important, we are told. And shown. And told a few more times. Be bold, fight for true love, don't settle. And never give up on your dreams, or your dead parents' dreams. This movie hits all the notes. With a framing hammer.
Alice, a waifish shopkeep (running her deceased father's antiques store in Brooklyn), is half-heartedly dating an ambitious realtor, Will Mitchum. A surprise proposal (she says “...yeah”) naturally leads to a visit with the in-laws. Will is wheeling and dealing in NY (trying to sell Alice’s store out from under her), so she's traveling solo to his folks' place.
Here's the linchpin moment - a tall, flirty stranger lends Alice his phone (they have just shared a classic coffee-spilling moment) and overhears her leaving a voicemail to one Will Mitchum, who is, miraculously, his brother. Except, his brother's name is Billy. And has never told anyone about this relationship. And has none of the personality traits she describes. But let's not split hairs. Dead phones, missing chargers, bad reception, and an endless cycle of real estate meetings all align to sever communication between the betrotheds - so Alice takes off with Matt Mitchum to meet the “in-laws.”
A creepily edited car crash (tonally, a jarring departure from the rest of the film) provides the extra nudge bringing Alice and Matt together (they get matching concussions - adorable). They must spend the next 24 hours awake on doctor's orders: cue holiday mischief. The level of physical flirtation is insane, all night they are a hair's-breadth from doing it on the kitchen floor like a couple of sex-deprived coeds. As the audience, we know the real score, but within the context of the movie, very dark things are transpiring. Matt clearly has some sibling rivalry issues to work out. He's toeing an uncomfortable line, playfully touching and wrestling, each flirtation successively bolder and more boundary-pushing than the last - he’s spurred on by Alice’s inviting smile and constant stream of giggles and shoves. The momentary excitement puts the unavoidable consequences out of mind - these are the sorts of transgressions from which families never recover. There's a tense domestic drama here, hidden in plain sight (think 2009's A Vicious Kind).
I’ll refrain from any spoilers (...is that even possible? have you seen the trailers for these things?), but let’s just say it progresses in the typical fashion and ends up right where you think it will. Which only leaves one thing left for me to go on about.
Scott Gibson, Scott Gibson, Scott fucking Gibson. What a delight. And I mean, what an absolute delight. Scott plays Will, the unctuous, overly-ambitious realtor / would-be-entrepreneur. He brings a light touch to the role - more self-absorbed than malicious, he never gets too broad which beautifully heightens the cringe-worthiness when Will is at his worst. Gibson has a nice take on the buffoonish wannabe-alpha-male archetype. He hams it up for the restaurant crowd during his proposal, getting the entire dining room’s attention before taking a knee. He has a wonderful way with his mid-conversation downward cellphone glances, and a perfect bullshitter’s catalogue of eyebrow maneuvers. Getting a dose of Will-at-home (puffed-up like a rooster in a hen-house, bouncing off the buttoned-up insanity of his perfection-seeking parents), makes it worth sticking around until the last act.
NSM - Non-Santa Movie
SCM - Subtle Christmas Mysticism
DF - Dead Father
EN - Elfie Nominee*
Jingle-jangle,
- Jon Bobby Elf
---
*Elfie Nominee - best "bad boyfriend"- Scott Gibson (as Will)
Alice, a waifish shopkeep (running her deceased father's antiques store in Brooklyn), is half-heartedly dating an ambitious realtor, Will Mitchum. A surprise proposal (she says “...yeah”) naturally leads to a visit with the in-laws. Will is wheeling and dealing in NY (trying to sell Alice’s store out from under her), so she's traveling solo to his folks' place.
Here's the linchpin moment - a tall, flirty stranger lends Alice his phone (they have just shared a classic coffee-spilling moment) and overhears her leaving a voicemail to one Will Mitchum, who is, miraculously, his brother. Except, his brother's name is Billy. And has never told anyone about this relationship. And has none of the personality traits she describes. But let's not split hairs. Dead phones, missing chargers, bad reception, and an endless cycle of real estate meetings all align to sever communication between the betrotheds - so Alice takes off with Matt Mitchum to meet the “in-laws.”
A creepily edited car crash (tonally, a jarring departure from the rest of the film) provides the extra nudge bringing Alice and Matt together (they get matching concussions - adorable). They must spend the next 24 hours awake on doctor's orders: cue holiday mischief. The level of physical flirtation is insane, all night they are a hair's-breadth from doing it on the kitchen floor like a couple of sex-deprived coeds. As the audience, we know the real score, but within the context of the movie, very dark things are transpiring. Matt clearly has some sibling rivalry issues to work out. He's toeing an uncomfortable line, playfully touching and wrestling, each flirtation successively bolder and more boundary-pushing than the last - he’s spurred on by Alice’s inviting smile and constant stream of giggles and shoves. The momentary excitement puts the unavoidable consequences out of mind - these are the sorts of transgressions from which families never recover. There's a tense domestic drama here, hidden in plain sight (think 2009's A Vicious Kind).
I’ll refrain from any spoilers (...is that even possible? have you seen the trailers for these things?), but let’s just say it progresses in the typical fashion and ends up right where you think it will. Which only leaves one thing left for me to go on about.
Scott Gibson, Scott Gibson, Scott fucking Gibson. What a delight. And I mean, what an absolute delight. Scott plays Will, the unctuous, overly-ambitious realtor / would-be-entrepreneur. He brings a light touch to the role - more self-absorbed than malicious, he never gets too broad which beautifully heightens the cringe-worthiness when Will is at his worst. Gibson has a nice take on the buffoonish wannabe-alpha-male archetype. He hams it up for the restaurant crowd during his proposal, getting the entire dining room’s attention before taking a knee. He has a wonderful way with his mid-conversation downward cellphone glances, and a perfect bullshitter’s catalogue of eyebrow maneuvers. Getting a dose of Will-at-home (puffed-up like a rooster in a hen-house, bouncing off the buttoned-up insanity of his perfection-seeking parents), makes it worth sticking around until the last act.
NSM - Non-Santa Movie
SCM - Subtle Christmas Mysticism
DF - Dead Father
EN - Elfie Nominee*
Jingle-jangle,
- Jon Bobby Elf
---
*Elfie Nominee - best "bad boyfriend"- Scott Gibson (as Will)
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