Noël à Miller's Point

There is no plot. If you wait for a plot to arrive, you will be waiting until after the credits are over. If you are hoping for character development instead, prepare yourself for one dimensional characters some of which just disappear after being introduced never to return. If you want absurd scenarios that have no possible link to remote plausibility, then perhaps this is your show. I cannot understand how this was ever made if the script resembled this final product. And I can't understand what movie the positive reviewers were actually watching. Did we see the same show? First one star review.

Greetings again from the darkness. It's that time of year when we get bombarded with Christmas movies. Some are light-hearted comedies, while others play off the elevated emotions of the holiday season. Most of these seem to be harmless, although some are so lame that we can barely watch. Yet it seems most every year one or two surprise us by packing a punch. Writer-director Tyler Taormina and co-writer re-team after their underappreciated HAM ON RYE (2019) for the most unique Christmas movie we will likely watch this year.

This is certainly no vehicle for movie stars to make an easy buck. In fact, most of the faces won't be familiar, and that works to the film's advantage ... a shrewd casting move. Based in the 1970's, a large family Christmas gathering is happening on Long Island, and the little bits of story are captured through the blips of snippets of conversations we catch. This includes discussions about the family matriarch needing to be moved to an assisted living facility and whether or not the family home should be sold. There are secrets and grudges and familiar jokes, along with teenagers trying to look cool ... in other words, the same things that happen at most family gatherings plus the added stress of Christmas.

Some of the jigsaw pieces are in the form of a player piano, a pet iguana, an electric train, video games, and a dozing grandma. A few of the men escape to the garage for a cold beer, while one uncle plays the piano and sings a Christmas carol. Another uncle is obsessed with cooking his portion of the family feast and explaining each step to anyone who will listen. Of course, the feast is enough to feed three times the number of people in attendance, and yes, one adult gets stuck at the kids' table. There are presents opened and home movies that bring back memories - some good, some tear-inducing. Yet another uncle has his book draft read aloud, providing quite the surprise. Those "cool" teenagers do manage to sneak out, and this along with the goofy cops (Michael Cera, Greg Turkington), seem like bits that don't really fit. The exception is one red-wrapped gift that must be fished out of a dumpster, ultimately providing a touching moment.

Again, most of the cast will not be recognizable, but they handle their characters beautifully. The cast includes Maria Dizzia, Matilda Fleming, Steve Alleva, JoJo Cincinnati, Ben Shenkman, Chris Lazzaro, Tony Savino, Elsie Fisher, as well as a couple of well-known offspring in Sawyer Spielberg and Francesca Scorsese. Cinematographer Carson Lund provides the retro look and feel, with a dose of nostalgia that avoids the customary overdose of sentimentality. The film is more complex than it appears on the surface, and the offbeat flow allows for emotions, love, and chaos - even as Santa rides by on the firetruck. An unconventional soundtrack is filled with 1960's music rather than Christmas tunes, and that works just fine. The best compliment I can offer is that this feels as much like we are at the party as it does we are watching the party. And that's impressive.

Showing in select theaters.

There is literally no plot, no story, and no character development of any kind. What was the point of this? A full 45 minutes in, nothing has happened. It's just random people that we don't know, doing random stuff at a Christmas party, and none of it is interesting in any way. It starts with a family, so your thinking it's about the family, then we don't see them again for almost an hour after they walk through the door. Then we see a bunch of relatives in a typical Christmas gathering talking about people and things we know literally nothing about. It's like they just had a camera person walk into a random party and they just start filming. Who green lit this? If you want footage of some random family's Christmas where nothing happens, then this is the movie for you. Otherwise, pass.

Christmas Eve in Miller's Point is a stunning and strange film from Tyler Taormina, an uncompromising young filmmaker.

If you've seen Taormina's previous films, ("Ham on Rye" / "Wild Flies" / the dialogue-less "Happer's Comet") then you might have a sense of what is going to wash over you when you sit down for this, his first effort to see broader distribution.

Taormina's films exist outside of conventional genre and storytelling. They're funny, but they're not comedies, there's drama, but they're not dramas. Characters experience conflict and resolution, but no single thread that must be followed to its end.

Taormina's films offer an experience that feels totally alive, with characters you'll fall in love with, and moments that feel too ordinary to be Hollywood, as well as moments that seem to absurd to be faked.

This is a difficult film to share, because the press materials (accurately) depict a family Christmas movie featuring Michael Cera, but it's not what you'd expect from that at all. When trying to describe the film, it begins to sound "art house" and dry, but it's anything but.

It's a film I strongly recommend to anyone with an open mind and an open heart. Personally, the holidays are not a selling point for me (unless it's "Black Christmas" 1974), but the world Taormina and his excellent cast created was utterly enthralling.

Christmas Eve at Miller's Point was, unfortunately, one of the most disappointing movies I've ever seen. It lacked a cohesive plot, storyline, or any semblance of character development. The film felt like a collection of random, disjointed conversations, introducing characters only to abandon them moments later without any follow-through.

The strange videography added to the confusion, with awkward close-ups on irrelevant details and unnecessarily long shots of background decor that served no purpose. It felt entirely random and odd, leaving me wondering how this ever became a movie in the first place.

Overall, it was a waste of time that left me frustrated and regretting the experience. This is not a film I would recommend to anyone.