Love the Coopers (DVD) Review

When four generations of the Cooper family reunite for their annual Christmas Eve celebration, a series of unexpected visitors and unlikely events turn the night upside down. They all rediscover the importance of kinship and the spirit of the holiday.

Love the Coopers is a 2015 American comedy-drama film directed by Jessie Nelson and written by Steven Rogers. It stars an ensemble cast including Alan Arkin, John Goodman, Ed Helms, Diane Keaton, Jake Lacy, Anthony Mackie, Amanda Seyfried, June Squibb, Marisa Tomei and Olivia Wilde.

What is Love the Coopers?

A modern holiday film, Love the Coopers takes place in a world where wacky dysfunctional families come together at the most wonderful time of the year for a meal. They fight, they cry, they realize something profound about life, love and family.

For some families, the holidays bring up ghosts of Christmas past, memories of better times and deep pain. In some cases, it can also be a time to celebrate a new beginning and find healing in the midst of struggle and conflict.

The Coopers are one such family. Sam (John Goodman) and Charlotte (Diane Keaton) invite four generations of their extended family to their annual Christmas Eve dinner. But the evening is a chaotic mess, as Hank (Alan Arkin) and Angie (Ed Helms) argue about their divorce. Bo (Ed Helms) tries to calm them down, but the fight continues.

As the night unfolds, the Coopers are visited by Eleanor (Olivia Wilde), a single playwright who believes her parents will be disappointed that she's still dating and doesn't want to disappoint them. So she poses as Joe (Jake Lacy), a soldier she met in the airport.

While Eleanor's strategy might not work for everyone, it's a refreshingly authentic attempt to reframe their relationship in the light of modern reality. The movie is a solid reminder that while relationships may be imperfect, they aren't inherently unsalvageable.

Ultimately, Love the Coopers is a good movie to watch this holiday season. It teaches the importance of honesty and open communication, and it emphasizes the importance of unconditional acceptance of people's flaws.

It's a story that will resonate with many audiences, especially those who are struggling with strained relationships or have been through difficult times. The movie is a must-watch for those looking for a break from the usual sentimentality that comes with a holiday dramedy, and it will make for a great conversation starter with friends and family.

The cast includes an ensemble of well-known actors, including Alan Arkin, John Goodman, Ed Helms, Diane Keaton and Jake Lacy. However, the movie's most compelling performances are by Olivia Wilde and Jake Lacy. They have an electric chemistry and elevate every scene they are in. It is these two characters who give the movie its heart, despite the fact that the script can't quite make up its mind whether to be comedy or drama.

Cast

Love the Coopers has a lot going for it, but it also has a lot that doesn't. The story revolves around a dysfunctional family, and while it's easy to see why this film was a big hit at the box office, it ultimately turns out to be a bit of a mess.

Sam (John Goodman) and Charlotte Cooper (Diane Keaton) are hosting their annual Christmas Eve dinner, but their marriage is about to end. Their children Hank (Ed Helms) and Eleanor (Olivia Wilde), who are both unemployed and dealing with personal crises, are also causing them stress. Emma, Charlotte's envious sister who's been busted shoplifting for her latest Christmas present, is trying to maintain the facade of loving the family. And irascible patriarch Bucky (Alan Arkin) is unhappy that his favorite diner waitress, Ruby (Amanda Seyfried), is moving out of town.

The movie is set to a sultry, festive soundtrack and has a narrator voiced by Steve Martin that helps to drive the narrative. The narrator also acts as the voice of the Coopers' dog, who makes frequent appearances throughout the film.

A Christmas comedy-drama, Love the Coopers is a heartfelt tale about family and the holiday season. It stars an ensemble cast including Alan Arkin, John Goodman, Ed Helms, Diane Keaton, Jake Lacy, Anthony Mackie, Amanda Seyfried, June Squibb, and Marisa Tomei.

When four generations of the Cooper family come together for Christmas, a series of unexpected visitors and unlikely events turn the night upside down, leading to a surprising rediscovery of family bonds and the spirit of the holiday.

There are a lot of different stories in Love the Coopers, but it's the ones surrounding the family members that make the film more entertaining than other Christmas movies. In particular, the relationship between the family's matriarch, Charlotte, and her senile aunt June (June Squibb) is a lot of fun to watch.

In the other parts of the film, we see things like Hank's divorced ex-wife Angie (Alex Borstein), who is a harridan, and Eleanor's fake relationship with a soldier named Joe (Jake Lacey). We also get a few funny scenes, such as when Hank and Angie argue, and when the power goes out during dinner.

Plot

Love the Coopers follows four generations of an upper middle class family as they prepare for their Christmas Eve celebration. Married couple Sam and Charlotte (John Goodman and Diane Keaton) decide to hold off on divorce until their adult children, grandchildren and extended families have one last Christmas together before announcing it.

As the family spends time together, memories of squabbling sisters who turn into childhood versions of themselves surface and unresolved tensions are revealed. Everyone tries to keep things in perspective as the holiday approaches, but it’s clear that despite the happy facade, there are underlying issues in this dysfunctional family.

The movie takes a look at the various conflicts among the characters, but doesn’t offer much in terms of resolutions. Some of the subplots, including Hank’s (John Goodman) kleptomania, Bucky’s (Alan Arkin) envy-fueled bout with Ruby the waitress and Charlie’s (Timothee Sherwood) anguish over Lauren’s (Amanda Seyfried) burgeoning romance, are handled poorly by director Jessie Nelson.

Most of the plot lines are left feeling underdeveloped, with most of them getting relegated to just one or two scenes. And when the film does jump between subplots, it often makes a huge tonal shift that can be painful.

There’s a lot of potential for love to be the focal point of the film, which is why it’s such a shame that it never gets a chance to be realized. Eleanor’s (Olivia Wilde) fake relationship with a cute Army-guy stranger she meets at the airport, in which she persuades him to pose as her boyfriend, has a certain charm and chemistry that could have made it into a charming little romance.

If the writers had been able to focus on Eleanor and Joe, rather than trying to cram all of the other storylines into the film, it would have really elevated Love the Coopers. It would have given this cliche-ridden Christmas flick a different perspective, instead of focusing on the same old dysfunctional family drama that everyone loves to watch over the holidays.

It’s a shame, because this cliche-ridden Christmas flick is a perfect opportunity to remind us of just how important family is. But the movie doesn’t know what it wants to be, and so doesn’t do enough to make its message worth the viewing experience.

Reviews

The Cooper family is getting together for Christmas Eve, a time of reunion and celebration. But a number of the members are facing serious challenges. Patriarch Sam (John Goodman) and matriarch Charlotte (Diane Keaton) are planning to divorce, Hank (Ed Helms) has been fired from his job as a photographer, Eleanor (Olivia Wilde) is dating a married man, and Grandpa Bucky (Alan Arkin) is in the hospital after a stroke.

Love the Coopers has a lot of things going for it, including a talented ensemble cast and a well-written script. However, it's also a messy film, one that fails to make sense. This is primarily due to director Jessie Nelson's lack of a clear vision and haphazard editing.

It's a shame, because if director Nelson had been able to stick with just one or two characters at a time and allowed them to shine, she would have been able to deliver a better-written film than the sloppy mess that Love the Coopers ends up being. Nevertheless, the movie does manage to find a way to connect these diverse characters, though it isn't always easy.

Despite the wacky tone, Love the Coopers is actually quite a nice and wholesome movie to watch with the family. The cast is great, especially Olivia Wilde and Jake Lacy, who turn what could be a clumsy bundle of idiosyncratic characters into lovable ones.

The film is also a bit slow, which is understandable considering it takes place over several days. That said, it's worth waiting for the film to build a few more layers of character and relationships before it hits its inevitable climax.

When the movie does start to come together, it’s done in a smart and introspective manner that makes the movie feel like a number of different movies. It’s a little like Home for the Holidays and A Christmas Story, in that it starts with a number of separate stories and eventually intertwines them.

While the plot is a bit convoluted, Love the Coopers is a movie that tries to tackle real issues and problems that many people face around Christmas. It also is a movie that doesn’t shy away from addressing insecurities and old hurts. It’s a movie that isn’t afraid to show you how hard it can be to find true love in this world.