One Crazy Christmas (2018)

(On TV, November 2021) The only thing better than a BET-broadcast romantic comedy is a BET-broadcast dysfunctional family holiday dramedy, and there’s just enough of that in One Crazy Christmas to make it worth an undemanding look. The story starts on a weird footing, as we’re introduced to a divorced lawyer presented as a de facto protagonist without making us care for her — even her hatred of her ex-husband seems contrived without much of a rationale. Events accumulate, she spends the weekend with a much younger man and that’s that — the story skips ahead a few weeks. While inelegant, this first act sets up the ludicrousness of the rest of the film as Christmas rolls around, her daughter comes to visit and the boyfriend she brings along is… the man she slept with. Like a good theatrical play, the tensions and dissimulation keep piling up until a glorious conflagration, with all supporting characters having their say in the proceedings. There’s a solid core to One Crazy Christmas, but it’s not necessarily supported by a competent execution. The dialogue is blunt, the writing is sloppy and the acting doesn’t rise much above the workmanlike directing or cinematography. Even the entertaining supporting characters (or the beautiful Terri Abney in a too-small role) only hint at the potential of what the film could have been in better hands. Writer-director Greg Carter gets the story going but doesn’t do much to get it past the finish line: there’s little style, not enough wit and a clear lack of audacity in developing such a premise into something that could have been fully satisfying. At least the tone is amiable, and the Christmas atmosphere is almost custom-designed to disarm reviewers who would like to be too harsh about it. It’s clearly within the usual levels of BET-broadcast films, and their audience would be happy with One Crazy Christmas.