Distance: 4 miles
So, Cinema Club again this morning. The movie, The Fitzgerald Family Christmas, was written, directed and starred in by Edward Burns. There were no early screenings for any movie reviewers so our moderator was working with the same short blurb we all were before seeing it with us. To wit:
The adult siblings of the Fitzgerald family prepare for their estranged father to return home for Christmas for the first time since he walked out on his family 20 years ago.
Between the title, anything to do with Christmas at all and then this blurb, I was not all that thrilled about walking through a mini-San Francisco deluge for this. And I'd like to report my hesitations were wrong and the movie was excellent - or even good. But, you know, it just wasn't. It felt shallow and melodramatic like a soap opera, and there was nothing new to the Irish Fitzgeralds' disfunctionality and struggle about the meaning family. So much better done by David O. Russell in his 2010 The Fighter which was nominated for seven Oscars, and starred Mark Wahlberg, Amy Adams, Christian Bale, and Melissa Leo - the latter two both winning Best Supporting Oscars.
Okay, that said, I will say after the movie has sunk in for several hours, I believe there might be (a lot of) people who would like the movie. The acting is good and the resolution well-handled and touching. I would not recommend it, but I wouldn't say "Don't go." It just wasn't for me.
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