Going in to our screening of Love the Coopers, The Movie Mensch felt it a little early on the calendar to get into the holiday spirit. Upon exiting, we are ready to sing Deck the Halls!
The biggest thing Love the Coopers has going for it is its cast. It stars Alan Arkin, Diane Keaton, John Goodman, Amanda Seyfried, Olivia Wilde, Anthony Mackie (also seen this Christmas in The Night Before), Marisa Tomei and Ed Helms. The film immediately reminded us of Love, Actually in that it is telling a story that commences with various characters being introduced on their own as it slowly but surely comes together in some sort of collective heartfelt conclusion.
Christmas at the Coopers is a tradition. The family has gathered at Charlotte (Keaton) and Sam’s (Goodman) home since their children, Hank (Helms) and Eleanor (Wilde) were little. Grandpa Bucky (Arkin) has always attended, but worries that the relationship between his daughters Charlotte and Emma (Tomei) has worsened over the years. Meanwhile, Hank is going through a nasty divorce and is trying to raise his kids and Eleanor can’t seem to find a good relationship. In fact, she’s dating a married man. Should be a fun Christmas!
Director Jessie Nelson does a solid job with Steven Rogers’ script providing us with a story that visits some usual holiday movie clichés, but gives us them in a manner that is charming and unpredictable. What else Rogers’ script does is keep the pace moving. Often times these family dramadies suffer from too much exposition. It’s a huge cast and they all need their spotlight. Well, if it is done right ,everyone involved will have their moment and it doesn’t require a huge soliloquy from the entire ensemble.
Goodman is fantastic and turns in a terrific performance opposite Keaton and completely embodies the father of the clan role. There are serious emotional challenges that he goes through throughout and they are delivered by the veteran actor with aplomb. Arkin shows us again why his official title is Oscar winner Alan Arkin. He’s a patriarch who seems more interested in helping a waitress who is lost (Seyfried). It’s a completely platonic relationship, and feels quite father-daughter, in fact, which makes sense given the discord between his real daughters.
Helms manages to be subtle in a way that works comedically and dramatically, something he doesn’t necessarily do all that often, as we saw in Vacation this past summer. He’s fantastic as the comic lift who is completely freaking out. Yet in Love the Coopers, he’s just a dad who is trying his best to take care of his kids, find a job to keep a roof over their head and maybe, just maybe, find some common ground with his wife who is just this side of a shrew.
The Movie Mensch had truly low expectations for Love the Coopers and can proudly say that we were shocked at how utterly delightful the film was from beginning to finish. It’s the rare family holiday movie that is not predictable, genuinely funny and also manages to get the heart beating quite a bit.
Grade: B