The best Christmas movies of all time seem like a tough list to break into. It's a collection that seems etched in stone with little-to-no wiggle room: It's a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Story, A Charlie Brown Christmas, Elf, etc. But with fresh angles taken, one can come close — and leave it to budding auteur Tyler Taormina to churn out a uniquely endearing, fun, weird holiday film ensemble for his latest achievement. Any indie buffs who tuned into his previous feature Ham on Rye are perhaps better primed for Christmas Eve in Miller's Point — and probably won’t be surprised to learn that the characters in focus here are a loudmouthed New Yorker clan on Long Island (make sure to emphasize the “g” in “Long,” of course).
Luckily, if you’re not familiar with Taormina's work, the holiday-centric nature of his new feature certainly has that family-friendly, more commercial appeal, and it remains relentlessly entertaining along with being artsy all the way through. There's something for everyone — even absurdist bit roles by the one and only Michael Cera and the enigmatically funny Gregg Turkington. Buckle up for a holiday ride that throws you for a knowingly atypical loop that might refuse to take the feedback if you were to say, "Hey, chill for a second."
Lush With Color and Crescendos
Christmas Eve in Miller's Point
On Christmas Eve, a family gathers for what could be the last holiday in their ancestral home. As the night wears on and generational tensions arise, one of the teenagers sneaks out with her friends to claim the wintry suburb for her own.
- Release Date
- November 15, 2024
- Director
- Tyler Taormina
- Cast
- Lev Cameron, Gregg Turkington, Sawyer Spielberg, Michael Cera, Francesca Scorsese, Elsie Fisher, Maria Dizzia, Ben Shenkman
- Runtime
- 106 Minutes
- Genres
- Drama, Comedy
- Writers
- Eric Berger, Tyler Taormina
- A funny indie movie that hits the sweet spot between arty and mainstream.
- A delightful ensemble cast deliver lots of surprises and heart.
- Beautifully filmed in a really evocative, nostalgic way.
- A very dry movie in many instances, which doesn't work for some people.
The luscious red & green of Christmas simply burst off the screen as Taormina paints vivid images of an extended clan that loves one another at heart, but that doesn't mean there aren't the usual family tropes of older siblings bickering about their ailing mom, teenagers trying to sneak out from the annual "boring" festivities, and more.
The adventurous spirits of the kids clearly pay homage to some of Steven Spielberg’s family-friendly gems like E.T. and Hook, while the wise-guy banter of the ensemble’s older generation reeks of Scorsese classics. Makes sense — the offspring of those two Oscar-winning filmmakers, Sawyer Spielberg and Francesca Scorcese, co-star in Christmas Eve in Miller's Point.
But meta angles aside, just as the recent film The Best Christmas Pageant Ever brings you back, so will the innocent yuletide trials and tribulations of the Balsano family. The teens who sneak out are cousins Emily (Matilda Fleming) and Michelle (Scorsese), while Emily's mom Kathleen (Maria Dizzia) remains suspicious of their whereabouts downstairs where all the action transpires. Kathleen is razor-sharp in other ways, like with one-liners — like when she tells her speeding husband Lenny (Ben Shenkman) behind the wheel, "Hey honey, drive like your family's in the car."
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An E.L.F. security officer (Dwayne Johnson) conscripts a dubious hacker (Chris Evans) to find a kidnapped Santa Clause (J. K. Simmons).
The more "straight and narrow" Lenny tags along as an out-of-place in-law every year to celebrate with Kathleen and her wise-guy brothers Ray (Tony Savino) and Ronald (Steve Alleva), who provide the plot's central conflict at hand. Their elderly mom, whose house is currently hosting the night's festivities, is at a point where she may or may not need to say adieu to her longtime residence and succumb to a nursing home — or at least require around-the-clock care, which all the siblings claim they can afford.
Splash o' Cera, Anyone?
Between the rebellious teens — one of whom screams, "We're never gonna die!" as they cruise around at one point — the out-of-place in-laws, and the bickering siblings, Taormina's latest offering is bound to strike a nostalgic nerve of déjà vu in you in some capacity. If nothing else, the extravagant dinner and dessert tables are enough to water your mouth and take you back to at least one epic family celebration from back in the day.
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The twinkling lights, the falling snow, the bright green trees and brilliant red ribbons - Christmas is a beautiful holiday made for the screen.
And when Taormina senses you might just need a quick break from the family's shenanigans, that's when two comedic greats step in to play a pair of local police officers. There's Sgt. Brooks (Gregg Turkington) and Officer Gibson (Cera), who drive around in silence for the most part, until the magic of Christmas Eve opens up their hearts and perhaps even reveals them to be a match made in heaven in unexpected ways.
It's another example of Taormina keeping us on our toes amid this atypical holiday picture in a variety of ways, refusing to allow us to get too comfortable while simultaneously filling his frames with cozy, beautiful, artistically crafted portraits of a cold night flooded with neon lights. If the purposefully awkward situations are too much to bear for mainstream audiences, just stick with it — hey, there's even a lovable dog that ultimately enters the mix. From IFC Films, Christmas Eve in Miller's Point will be released in theaters on Nov. 8, 2024.
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