LOVE THE COOPERS

– Movie Review By Cate Marquis –

The movie “Love the Coopers” opens with Diane Keaton as Charlotte Cooper signing Christmas cards with “Love, the Coopers.” The comma is missing in the movie’s title, which presumably means the filmmakers hope you love the Cooper family. To help with that goal, they have loaded this holiday film with a likeable cast that includes Keaton, John Goodman, Marisa Tomei, Alan Arkin, Ed Helms, Anthony Mackie, Olivia Wilde, Amanda Seyfried, and June Squibb. Ultimately, whether you “love the Coopers” might really depend on how much you love Christmas movies.

“Love the Coopers” is frankly aimed at the audience who loves Christmas movies, especially one with an all-star cast, pretty snowy scenery, lovely decorations, and all the holiday trimmings. Still, while the film generally colors within the lines of the family holiday movie genre, it stretches those limits a bit with comic twists on standard character types and tweaks to common tropes, as a family gathers for a holiday dinner.

It is not a holiday movie like “Love, Actually” but it would like remind you of it. Director Jessie Nelson keeps the tone on the ironic side, which helps the comedy quite a bit, although the sentimental glow emerges in the end. Not everything makes a lot of sense in this movie, like the voice-over by an unnamed observer, but the light, playful tone makes it a bit more palatable.

Mom Charlotte (Diane Keaton) and dad Sam Cooper (John Goodman) are preparing that dinner for their extended family, who are coming home for the holidays – with some extra baggage. A lavish feast, presented in mouth-watering fashion, is the focus of the movie’s climatic scene, as everyone gathers around the table, which is a bonus for the foodies out there. Charlotte wants a “perfect” Christmas for the family – before she and Sam announce they are separating. You know she’s not going to get it, but she lavishes love on the fabulous holiday meal in an attempt to create that.

This is specifically a Christmas movie – Keaton’s character decks her home with her massive collection of snow globes and red and green decor – but there are frequent references to another winter holiday. Hanukkah decorations are sprinkled along every street and Jewish references pop up unexpectedly, with a winking touch of humor.

Mom and Dad’s secret is not the only on one the family brings to the table. Daughter Eleanor (Olivia Wilde) is sick of questions about her love life, so she picks up a stranger (Jake Lacy), a snowed-in soldier, to play her boyfriend. It’s a classic Hollywood romantic ploy but Wilde and Lacy play it so well, with a few contemporary comic twists, that they both charm us.

The nutty relative role falls to June Squibb as mentally-foggy Aunt Fishy while Alan Arkin plays Grandpa, Charlotte’s dad Bucky. Bucky is a dignified older gentleman but he secretly shares a mutual crush with his favorite waitress (Amanda Seyfried), so he is crushed to learn she is moving away to restart her stalled life.

Divorced, newly-fired son Hank (Ed Helms) is struggling with a secret job search while sharing custody of his three kids with his obnoxious ex-wife Angie (Alex Borstein), who for unknown reasons is still coming to the family Christmas dinner. Charlotte’s resentful, messed-up sister Emma (Marisa Tomei) has the weirdest story in a plot filled with oddball tales, which involves her getting arrested by Officer Williams (Anthony Mackie), an event leading to self-insights for both of them.

The strong cast strive to wring humor out of this material, and succeed in that to a greater extend than one expects. Like other holiday family tales, “Love the Coopers” has its share of scenes that happen only in the movies or on stage, although it does avoid the worst of the loud, throw-everything-in, vaudevillian comedy climax. It all wraps up with a warm feeling, truth-telling and family reconciliations – giving Christmas movie fans just what they want for the holidays.