New Netflix comedy 'Best Christmas Ever' slammed as forgettable festive flop
Tis the season to be jolly, but you may not think so if Netflix's latest 'feel-good' Christmas movie is anything to go by.
With its nonsensical plot, implausible twists and laughably inane life lessons, the ironically-titled Best. Christmas. Ever! has really got critics riled up. The yuletide story kicks off when a twist of fate lands self-defined failure Charlotte (Heather Graham), her husband Rob (Jason Biggs), and their family on the doorstep of successful chum Jackie (Brandy Norwood) just days before Christmas.
Enraged by Jackie’s cringey and over-the-top Christmas newsletters crowing about family successes, it isn't long before Charlotte jumps at the chance to prove that her old friend's seemingly 'perfect' life is actually anything but. Cue a series of disjointed scenes, a lacklustre screenplay, and an incredibly (but perhaps mercifully) short run-time of just 80 minutes and you have a recipe for a complete Christmas turkey, ripe for stuffing ... in the bin.
Coleman Spilde, of The Daily Beast, described the film as being too 'cheerless and convoluted to make the nice list'. He posted: "Any real lover of a cheesy Christmas movie will tell you that it’s a delicate balance between silliness and straight-up poor filmmaking. At every turn in Best. Christmas. Ever! there’s a production decision that feels more like a shortcut than a wacky aside. By the time audiences reach the finale, which takes place on a hot air balloon that mystifyingly operates like a literal plane, they too will be wishing that they could skip to the end and bypass the rest of the work. It turns out that this isn’t the best Christmas ever—it’s actually pretty forgettable."
Benjamin Lee, of The Guardian, said the film may very well be the 'worst of the season'. He said the short runtime makes it more of a 'long montage of bits' rather than an actual movie. He wrote: "(this is a) sickly family movie, overstuffed with inane life lessons and cloying kids. Something with more of a bite would have allowed our two leads to have a bit more fun but they’re both stuck in sleepwalk mode, a particularly bored Graham struggling to add a much-needed lightness to her comedic scenes. It’s so unclear as to what kind of friendship these two once had (they barely share any scenes alone together) and instead of filling in any of the gaps, the script lazily tries to create vague conflict out of romantic jealousy instead, involving their husbands when the film should have focused more tightly on the women."
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CGMagazine's Dayna Eileen was slightly more charitable. She said while there were too many moments in Best. Christmas. Ever! that felt forced or unnatural, she did describe it as 'an entertaining, short movie you can throw on to make things feel a little more Christmassy'.
Best. Christmas. Ever! is available to stream now on Netflix
Have you seen Best. Christmas. Ever! yet? Is it as bad as the critics make out? Share your thoughts in the comments below
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