I was not crazy about this at first. Oh heavens, thought I, a soapy French dramedy about a troubled bourgeois family that is gathering for their first Christmas together in years. And it is that, but as I watched, it grew on me. It is a Christmas tale for the 21st century, full of neurosis, but also laughter, emotion, and energy. There are fine performances and charming scenes. Not all of the casting choices are great, especially Roussillon as the paterfamilias; he seems more like an old comic actor than the businessman husband of Catherine Deneuve. The film often seems to be trying too hard to grab and hold the viewer's attention, but it does succeed.
Review of A Christmas Tale
