Happy Christmas
If this movie were a Buzzfeed list, it would be "15 Things That Twentysomethings Do That Piss Thirtysomethings Off." An illustrative scene: Drunk twentysomething puts a frozen pizza in the oven and conks out after smoking a bowl. Responsible thirtysomething wakes up to a house engulfed in smoke, wondering, is my house on fire? Is my baby on fire? Is my life burning down? Things like this happen throughout Happy Christmas, Joe Swanberg's latest comedy, and we're invited to wonder how, why, and when the carelessness of youth is exchanged for the stability of adulthood. Kelly and Jeff, played by Melanie Lynskey and Swanberg himself, are a young couple who recently became parents and are working on the humbling task of assembling the structures of a nuclear family. The agent of interruption is Jeff's 26-year-old sister, a lively Anna Kendrick, who just broke up with a boyfriend and is coming to stay "for a while, I think. I don't actually know how long." It's a nice little people-figuring-stuff-out movie that doesn't take itself too seriously. It has the sense to not be longer than it needs to be, and the music is good. The stakes are low, but it wins.
by Krishanu Ray