One does not expect a Christmas film to be challenging, and this one certainly isn't. But it is a lot of fun.
A boys' boarding school empties of almost all staff and pupils for the 1970/1 Festive Season. Left behind are Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti), the unpopular history teacher who has to keep an eye on the school; Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa), a teenaged pupil whose mother does not want him on her honeymoon; and Mary Lamb (the impressively-named Da'Vine Joy Randolph), the school cook who is facing her first Christmas alone since her son died on military service. As these three lonely souls come together, there are tantrums, emotional revelations, the revealing of long-hidden secrets, a noble sacrifice... the usual stuff.
Also the usual stuff are the characters: Paul is cynical and frustrated; Angus is ironic and insecure; and as Mary is overweight and black, she of course has to be sassy.
But while in some films such predictability would be annoying, it works here. Within the limits of their somewhat two-dimensional personalities, the characters are well-written - even Angus' tantrums do not seem unreasonable. Plus, there are some great gags ("You hit him? You mean you punched him out?" "No, I hit him with a car...") And I will not be the only viewer who finishes the film with a lump in his throat.
Great fun. I can easily see myself buying the DVD and watching this for many Christmases to come...
A boys' boarding school empties of almost all staff and pupils for the 1970/1 Festive Season. Left behind are Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti), the unpopular history teacher who has to keep an eye on the school; Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa), a teenaged pupil whose mother does not want him on her honeymoon; and Mary Lamb (the impressively-named Da'Vine Joy Randolph), the school cook who is facing her first Christmas alone since her son died on military service. As these three lonely souls come together, there are tantrums, emotional revelations, the revealing of long-hidden secrets, a noble sacrifice... the usual stuff.
Also the usual stuff are the characters: Paul is cynical and frustrated; Angus is ironic and insecure; and as Mary is overweight and black, she of course has to be sassy.
But while in some films such predictability would be annoying, it works here. Within the limits of their somewhat two-dimensional personalities, the characters are well-written - even Angus' tantrums do not seem unreasonable. Plus, there are some great gags ("You hit him? You mean you punched him out?" "No, I hit him with a car...") And I will not be the only viewer who finishes the film with a lump in his throat.
Great fun. I can easily see myself buying the DVD and watching this for many Christmases to come...