Christmas Special: The Family Holiday

The Family Holiday (2007)

Synopsis

Donald "Doc" Holiday is a con man with a knack for trouble. But before he can inherit his uncle's fortune, he must convince Harriet Pendergast, the estate's straight-laced executor, that he has given up his lowlife ways to become the perfect family man, complete with a wife, kids, and even a dog.

My Thoughts

I've never heard of this movie, but we found it in the library and it's a Christmas movie, so why not? Sounds like a cute family film; I guess we'll find out!

It's depressing how they portrayed the social worker. I know a couple social workers, and it would probably make them a little angry to see the portrayal in this film. She is so mean and obnoxious and couldn't care less about the children she's trying to split up. That's probably part of the movie, though...cracking the shell of the angry social worker and showing her the importance of Christmas, blah blah blah :-)

We see a very different side of Dave Coulier. No more Uncle Joey here. Just a con man who gets everyone he knows in trouble until he has the motivation of $20 million to get his life together. The film itself seems pretty corny, but younger kids would probably enjoy it. The acting's not that awesome, but it's not horrendous. It's got a Lifetime feel to it. I don't know if it aired there, but it seems like it would have.

Uncle Joey comes back a little bit when he starts pretending to be a dad. It's a weird con man kind of an Uncle Joey, but you can see him in there :-) I used to love Full House, so I might just be looking for him in there.

So it's basically another of those corny, family Christmas films, but if you feel like mixing it up a little and not watching the same classics every year, it could be a good movie to curl up on the couch with the kids (if you have any) and some hot chocolate, especially if you enjoy Lifetime movies.

I love their little Charlie Brown tree. I always feel bad for those trees, since no one ever wants them. It's like the ugly, one-eyed puppy in the shelter. Someone's gotta take 'em!

The end is even cornier than the whole rest of the movie. Just don't be a Grinch and judge too harshly. Most Christmas movies are somewhere on the high end of the corny spectrum. This one's just a little higher...

They never do revisit the mean social worker issue. I guess she really is just the Wicked Witch that 'Doc' jokes about her being. That's sad, but at least the family gets to live happily ever after...That's no surprise, though, since it's a Christmas movie and a Lifetime Christmas movie at that!