Lucky Coffee Productions,
Anna Kendrick, Melanie Lynskey, Mark Webber, Lena Dunham, Joe Swanberg
Kevin (Mark Webber) and Kelly (Melanie Lynskey) are a young married couple with a small apartment and a small son. Kevin’s sister, Jenny (Anna Kendrick) suddenly shows up at their door. Jenny is a 20 something woman with no rules. She’s recently broken up and homeless and wants to live with Kevin and Kelly. They’re happy to allow her to live in their basement room but Jenny and her best friend Carson (Lena Dunham) are not ready to be responsible adults. She still has a drinking and drug problem and cannot be trusted. At first Kelly is put off by Jenny’s nonsense, but the hard role of wife and mother has gotten in the way of her love of writing, and she is attracted to Jenny’s free and easy lifestyle.
First of all, I feel bad about classifying this film as a Christmas movie. It does occur around the holidays and trees and presents are there to be seen in the film, but it’s a very dark relationship film about dysfunctional family issues. Jenny has very little going good in her life, and though she wants to do better, she’s too weak. Kevin should step in as straighten out his little sister, but he’s so non-aggressive that he can’t find anything to say. Kelly is the happy-go-lucky Mom who loves her husband and son so much, but soon begins to be very jealous of the life Jenny has and wants to be included. All in all, these folks are messed up, and trying to get by. The other problem I really have with this movie is the ending. This is a movie without an ending, and nothing is gained by watching it. I was sorely disappointed at the end, as I despise movies that just end without any change or resolution at all to the story. There’s really not much I can recommend to this DVD, and I am sorry I wasted a spot in my queue for this. I am not sure why Anna Kendrick chose this script, perhaps it was just an exercise in making the most of a bad story, but she’s been a few of these losers lately. I guess it’s hard to switch over from teen flicks to adult roles, but this was not a good choice to move her career forward. I really didn’t like this movie, and please don’t expect a “Happy Christmas” movie as it is anything but that!
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