| Written by Paul D. Race for Family Christmas OnlineTM |
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Christmas-Themed Comedy MoviesThis page will contain links to Christmas-themed movies that families enjoy watching together. We will try to include reviews and links to the DVD on Amazon. When a "Video on Demand" version is available, we will provide the link for that, too. Note: If you know you are out of time and want to download a Video on Demand movie to your computer for immediate viewing (or at least to see today), please jump right to our Downloadable Family Christmas Movies page. Most Christmas movies are not available that way yet, so if you have time to wait for a dvd to come your way, please take a look at the options on this page and the other Family Christmas Movies pages. Right now we only have a few movies listed, but check back later in the year - we hope to have more soon.
A Christmas Story
I was a small child in the 1950s, not the 1940s, but many of the adventures, hopes and dreams of Ralphie (Peter Billingsley) are reminiscent of my own childhood Christmases in the Midwest. Gifts you got you didn't want, gifts you wanted you couldn't get, bullies, overcoats you couldn't move in, Christmas plans gone horribly awry, but somehow not ruining the holiday. What really makes this movie work, besides the humor, the great cast, and witty script, is how your own memories "fill in the gaps" as you watch young Ralphie attempt to negotiate the universal hazards of pre-adolescence.
Here's a present-day story from southeast Ohio that relates: an aging grandmother and grandfather I know recently had no one to visit with on Christmas evening, since the children and grandchildren had already visited and gone off to visit the "other sides" of their repective families. So they figured they'd go into town and find a place to eat. The only restaurant open was a Mexican restaurant run by real Mexicans - the sort of place that couple would ordinarily avoid for gastronomic reasons. The help that night couldn't speak English, and "Ma and Pa" couldn't speak Spanish, so they just pointed at things that they thought looked edible. Their hosts were so gracious and the food was so good, that the next Christmas they made a point of eating there again, and it looks like a whole new tradition may be established. If you don't know how this relates to this movie, you NEED to see the movie now. Note: If you need to see a movie now, instead of waiting for the dvd to get here, this movie is available as a download.
Jim Carey in How The Grinch Stole Christmas (Deluxe Edition)
This full-length hollywood movie stars Jim Carey in a role that is actually suited to his over-the-top outrageous antics. A great supporting cast, witty direction, and inspired sets and costumes bring the Who village, their culture, and their nemesis to life. Some have accused the show of including themes which were never in the book (mostly: Christmas is too commercial). But those themes are resolved in a way that keeps with the spirit of the original book and cartoon, so I don't mind so much. And the show is clever, beginning to end.
Every movie that comes out with Christmas in the title (or the description) is hailed as a classic, but I think this will stand the test of time. Note: If you need to see a movie now, instead of waiting for the dvd to get here, this movie is available as a download. Elf
Wil Farrell is funniest when he is playing a clueless innocent, and no one is more innocent or clueless than "Buddy," a human raised by elves at the North Pole. A tremendous supporting cast, including Bob Newhart, James Caan, Mary Steenburgen, and Ed Asner, bring vitality and a sort of quirky plausibility to a movie that seems to start out in "Rudolf-land" and ends up with a cop-on-horseback-versus-reindeer chase scene in Central Park. Peter Dinklage (Prince Caspian's Trumpkin) has a bit as a children's author with an attitude that is almost worth the price of admission.
With the exception of Buddy's father choosing one of the few bad judgments (distributing a children's book with the last plot page missing) that virtually never takes place in that industry, everything else that happens in the movie seems to flow right out of the characters and from the conflict between Buddy's inherent good nature and naivete and the "real-world's" jaded cynicism. This is a remarkable movie, and will no doubt tie with Stranger Than Fiction as Farrell's most enduring work.
The 12 Days of Christmas Eve
This is more or less a Christmas version of Groundhog Day, with the one difference that the lead has only 12 tries to "get it right." As the ambitious CEO of a discount department store chain, Steve Weber's character's primary characteristic is total blindness to the emotional needs of those around him. He spends December 24th wheeling and dealing, blowing off family responsibilities and keeping his employees at the office far too late for no real purpose. Then disaster strikes and - well you can guess the rest. His "Clarence" throughout this adventure is Molly Shannon's "Angie" character, whom he first meets when he awakens in what seems to be a hospital bed.
The movie is lighter fare than, say One Magic Christmas, but Shannon's wry humor helps keep the movie from being just another touching Hallmark Christmas movie. The supporting cast includes some recognizable faces, all doing their parts well. But Kudos go to Weber for convincingly portraying someone so self-centered that he doesn't even know how to be nice to people when he tries. I rate it pretty high on my list, because, unlike many other movies that sound the same, this is well-enough written, acted, and directed to be worth seeing more than once. More than twice, even. It may even become a family favorite.
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (Special Edition)As may be expected from the title, this movie is neither reverent, nor entirely tasteful, but it is gut-splitting funny. It also gave a generation of folks who like over-the-top outdoor Christmas decorations a "role model": Clark Griswold. This is one of Chevy Chase's funniest films. A great supporting cast includes Randy Quaid as a clueless relation whose attempts to help solve a Griswold family financial crisis make things infinitely worse. Is there a lot of "true Christmas spirit" or "meaning of Christmas" material in this movie? No - the Griswold family muddles through the holidays, each with their own agenda, and no one getting exactly what they think they should get out of Christmas, just like most families. But it avoids the bitterness toward the holiday that some "postmodern" "Christmas comedies" make a point of including. Language and Humor Alert: This movie does have a couple of "potty-mouthed" characters and a few tasteless gags, but nothing that strains the PG rating, just thought you should know, in case you try to be careful about that sort of thing.
Here's hoping that YOUR Christmas makes more sense and is more uplifting than the Griswold's. And if you want to decorate like Clark, at least now you have low-voltage LED options that he didn't have. Note: If you need to see a movie now, instead of waiting for the dvd to get here, this movie is available as a download.
The Family Man
If we had a "chick flick" category by now, this one would probably belong there, but it stands up to family viewing. Nicholas Cage stars as a financially successful bachelor who is forced by a supernatural twist to see what (and who) he gave up to achieve that success. Shelia likes it because the personal interaction of the principals is believable (under the circumstances), and parts are charming (although there ARE some "chick-flick" dynamics). Parts are also quite funny, which is one reason it has a place on this page. The excellent supporting cast includes Téa Leoni and Don Cheadle. Although the action happens around Christmas, it's not really about Christmas per se, though.
The Santa Clause
According to this film, Santa Claus isn't a person, it's a role that various people have inhabited over the years. Tim Allen plays a businessman who accidentally becomes next in line to become Santa when he inadvertently causes the death of the current incumbent. As Tim's character adjusts to the inevitable changes in his life (and his metabolism), he also struggles to maintain the relationships he values, especially that with his young son, played by Eric Lloyd. The movie has lots of Tim Allen silliness, of course, but none of the humor is mean-spirited, which is why it deserves a place on our "virtual shelf." Supporting cast includes Numbers' David Krumholtz, when he was still small enough to play a snarky sort of elf, Judge Reinhold, and Wendy Crewson.
Red Skelton Christmas ClassicsRed Skelton's Freddy the Freeloader character usually spoke; that's one distinction between him and Chaplin's Little Tramp. But Freddie could also be an inspired pantomimer capable of juxtaposing humor and pathos in what, on the surface, seems to be a simple comedy skit. That skill, and many more, made Red Skelton's Christmas shows memorable, and worth watching many years later. In fact, I still remember two of these skits from my childhood, and that was a VERY long time ago.
Note: If you need to see a movie now, instead of waiting for the dvd to get here, this movie is available as a download.
Jingle All the WayThis movie is about a "normal" husband and father whose search for a particular color of Power Ranger (they don't call them that) is interrupted by a crazy postal worker after the same toy. The fact that Arnold Schwarzenegger is the "normal" husband in this story should tell you something about its believability. The show's themes don't actually revolve around Christmas at all, they involve a slightly neglectful, but well-meaning husband's attempts to live up to his wife's (admittedly realistic) expectations at the same time a neighborhood stay-at-home dad is attempting to prey on the wife's sense of neglect. Rita Wilson (Mrs. Tom Hanks) turns in a very nice performance as the slightly aggrieved wife. Phil Harman is appropriately sleazy as the would-be interloper. Cameo appearances by Robert Conrad, Martin Mull, James Belushi, and Harvey Korman are welcome as well. For his part, Sinbad appears to have remembered his lines and stage directions, but I have to admit that the scriptwriters didn't really give him much to work with beyond an insensitive stereotype that has nothing to do with the film's plot.
Situation Alert: A couple of the situations in the movie aren't technically child-fare, but they tend to go right over kids' heads, so you be the judge. In other words, this movie won't necessarily put anyone in the household into a Christmas spirit, but it is watchable and fun in parts. Note: If you need to see a movie now, instead of waiting for the dvd to get here, this movie is available as a download. For more information about Downloadable Family Christmas Movies, click here. ConclusionAs always, please contact us with any questions, suggestions, or corrections. Paul and Shelia Race To return to the Christmas Movies Page, click here. To return to the Family Christmas OnlineTM Home Page, click here.
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