Uncle Nick

Dir: Chris Kasick

2015

***

I like a dark Christmas comedy but most of them seem to be fairly far removed from Christmas. Not 2015’s Uncle Nick though, possibly the first Christmas comedy I can think of that really taps into the age old joy of the Christmas dinner argument. For many people Christmas is actually fairly meaningless; you have to see family that you have no interest in seeing, go places you don’t want to go and do things you just don’t want to do. Sure the food can be nice but overall, the only things I look forward to is a couple of days off work, drinking during the day and sitting down for a whole day. Uncle Nick gets this but he’s also a bit of a trouble-maker. Brian Posehn plays the titular character; a bit of a slob and completely okay with it but with a softer side. He burps aloud, smokes indoors and isn’t exactly full of compliments but his honesty is refreshing and there is a tenderness to him that is hard to dislike. As eldest brother of his siblings it soon turns out that he has done his fair share anyway and his criticism is generally fair. His vitriol (if you can even call it that) is generally aimed at his younger brother who acts as if he’s made it, when in fact it is his older wife who has the big house and money – as well as two kids. The Christmas is separated into chapters and is also constantly compared to the infamous game at Cleveland’s Municipal Stadium on the night of June 4th 1974, where the management came up with the ill-conceived money-making idea of selling unlimited beer for only 10 cents a cup. The game ended messy with the home team being forced to forfeit the game, it comes as a rather suitable comparison to Uncle Nick’s Christmas, which unsurprisingly ends in disaster, but not in the way you might initially think it would. Brian Posehn steals the show in a role that was supposedly written with him in mind. It is uncomfortably lewd in places, and I’m not sure we really needed to see Uncle Nick’s little reindeer, but the interaction between him and his brother’s step daughter Valerie is about as cringe-worthy as it gets. It’s not nice but it works. Think Bad Santa but less fantastical, smaller budget and a little more down to earth. It was a surprise to see that the film was ‘presented’ by the great Errol Morris but it kind of makes sense when it gets to the baseball history part. It’s a charming dark comedy that gets away with a lot that other films wouldn’t be able to get away with. It’s a nice sort of tribute to Cleveland too. It calls out Christmas for what it is to most people – a meaningless time of the year that can be loathed and enjoyed in equal measure. This is highlighted beautifully by an analysis of the seasonal game of The White Elephant gift exchange that is supposed to be fun but is in fact the greediest and cruelest game you could play at Christmas. It’s a well conceived idea with plenty of originality which really puts it ahead of the competition. I would say it is still a three star film as I wouldn’t feel the need to watch it every year and some of the acting leaves a lot to be desired, but on the whole, it is a million times better than I expected it to be.