ABC Family [United States]
Jay Mohr, Daphne Zuniga, David Millbern, Adrienne Barbeau, Tim Thomerson, Logan Grove, Ruta Lee, Jacob Chambers, Sonia McDancer
Kevin (Jay Mohr) is a screw up. He has a great son and a beautiful ex-wife, Jill (Daphne Zuniga), but he’s still a screw up. He is invited to his in-laws for Christmas one last time. The In-laws are Trudi (Adrienne Barbeau) and Arthur (Tim Thomerson), and of course Granny Conlon (Ruta Lee) who is the only one who can stand Kevin. Jill’s new fiance, Todd (David Millbern) will also be there and he’ planning a Christmas surprise for Jill thta will change everything forever. Kevin forgets a gift, and when he gets to the store late on Christmas Eve to buy a gift for son Ben (Logan Grove) he asks for the hottest present left on the shelves, but it turns out to be an Easy Bake Oven, for a little boy?? This is the kind of screw-up Kevin is. So as things collapse around him and he ruins Christmas for everyone, he decides to go home early, but unfortunately the road is blocked by a giant boulder, and poof, it’s Christmas Day again and Kevin is arriving once again to go through it all again, time after time after time. In one disaster after another, Kevin has to learn the hard way to care about someone else for a change, and to change his life. Only then will he be able to escape Christmas Day.
This is another “live the day over and over again” story like several others, “Christmas Every Day” “Groundhog Day” and probably a couple others. This is a pretty good one. Jay Mohr’s character is pretty annoying, as he’s really a jerk, but this is perfect for the role. The days are not too repetative, even though there are many of them! They jump from day to day quite quickly here as Kevin learns what he’s doing wrong. Some days appear and disappear in 30 seconds or less. But the key parts are here. Jay has to try to escape, when that doesn’t work, he tries to sabotage Todd, and he tries to manipulate Jill and her family. But only when he becomes sincere can it work out and he can move on with his life. The characters are funny, there’s real humor here. It’s not sweet or sappy, it’s just mostly funny. Poor Todd will never know what hit him. I think the casting was done very well, and it’s a far better than average Christmas film. I recommend this story. It’s a good one.
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