What makes a great Christmas movie?
Not everyone is getting into the Christmas spirit
There’s a howling wind whistling round your house, the heavy rain is being slapped against the window by gale force gusts and it’s been dark since 3pm.
It’s cold, wet and miserable outside. But inside it’s warm and inviting – the fairy lights are twinkling on the tree, presents shine underneath it in their fancy wrapping, you’ve cranked the heating up to maximum and are settled in front of the TV with a mug of tea – a perfect cosy Christmas scene. All you need now is a decent Crimbo-themed flick to get you in the festive mood. But what makes a great Yuletide movie?
One that makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside and also allows you to blub unashamedly? One which invokes your childhood Santa memories? One that brings home the message of peace and goodwill to all? Or just some good old-fashioned slapstick to make you laugh?
Or perhaps a really good Christmas movie is one which combines all these elements, the perfect fun-for-all-the-family feel-good picture?
These types of easy-going, kid friendly pictures do prove to be the most popular during December, judging by the TV listings and the many top ten lists compiled by movies buffs and bloggers alike.
A Google search on “great Christmas movies� will bring up repeated lists of classic family yarns – Home Alone, The Miracle on 34th Street, A Christmas Story, It’s A Wonderful Life, The Grinch, Elf, Love Actually and Die Hard – Die Hard? John McClane’s gun-toting, skyscraper destroying debut?
Well, it is set at Christmas and does have a happy ending (bad guys die, hostages live and the warring protagonist couple get back together in time for Christmas with the children).
No, I don't have time to pick up the turkey!
Evidently then, some of us only want cheese with our biscuits after the roast turkey, rather than on our TV screens. Alternative festive films like Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas and Billy Bob Thornton’s drunken, foul-mouthed take on St Nick in Bad Santa were a hit at the box offices, and have continued to prove their success by being voted into the top ten compilations.
The aforementioned may not be not obvious choices but despite the joyful, colourful connotations classics like Miracle on 34th Street and It’s a wonderful life invoke, these too also have rather anti-Christmas themes pretty near the surface.
Kris Kringle is taken to court to prove his sanity in Miracle and George Bailey is contemplating suicide in Wonderful Life – not overly jolly storylines for the kiddies.
But what both these firm favourites covey is the “magic of Christmasâ€? – through the positive, optimistic spirit of all things December 25th Kringle wins his case and George, with help from an angel (the classic Christmas character), learns how valuable his life really is – the best present anyone could ever receive. And in their own special way both Nightmare and Bad Santa end on a positive note, albeit through rather more unconventional means.
Another feature all these films have are fantastic, loveable, watchable characters. Imagine sitting round the table with McClane, Kevin McCallister, Buddy the elf and Kris Kringle to swap Christmas stories and eat mince pies.
Where the turkeys of Christmas movie-land fall down is with predictable storylines, stereotyped characters and unbelievable storylines.
Last year’s Four Christmases tried to bring about the Yuletide magic by taking the bah-humbugging protagonist couple on an eye-opening journey, which made them realise maybe marriage, babies, family – and ultimately Christmas – is a good thing after all.
It failed with its unfunny, plodding storyline, two dimensional and stereotyped characters and lack of a heart-warming ending.
"This Christmas, we're all getting I-pods!"
A great Christmas movie, then, is one that invokes the Christmas spirit of peace and goodwill in some way or another, leaves us ruminating over the importance of family and friends and puts a smile on our faces.
Yes some of the endings of the classic festive films may be cornier than a box of Kellogg’s, but what’s wrong with the occasional guilty pleasure of a clichéd happy ending? The amount of calories you’ve consumed/money you’ve spent on presents/hangovers you’ll endure is depressing enough.
So grab the family sized box of chocolates, settle yourself in front of the TV and indulge – it is Christmas after all.
By Lucy Clapham
