Is it a Christmas Movie? – Daddy's Home 2
An annual household debate: What makes something a Christmas movie? If airing on Hallmark post-Thanksgiving or starring a singing/dancing Bing Crosby, the genre designation is obvious. But if it merely takes place during the season, does it count? Will it have the same joyous spirit or feel-goodness of “real” Christmas movies?
We decided to tackle the on-the-bubble movies and bring the debate to you.
Christmas clichés:
Hate Becomes Love
Cute, Precocious Child
Sage Grandpa Figure
Tree Buy & Trim
Our take
A Christmas Movie!
We’ll be honest: We had no plans on debating the Christmas merits of this movie. Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg? And when did we all forgive Mel Gibson? Recommendations by coworkers that “This is a Christmas movie! You should watch it!” were not taken seriously, and we just wanted a night off from thinking too hard while watching a flick.
But halfway through this movie, we realized it screamed “Christmas” and had to share it with the masses. (So take our Cliché List lightly. It came from memory vs. Jess’s diligent note-taking.)
Becoming cordial since the premise of “Daddy’s Home,” Brad (Will Ferrell, still best as Buddy the Elf) and Dusty (Mark Walhberg, still fantastic) are successfully co-parenting. They decide to host a “Together Christmas” for the kids. But when their fathers arrive, Brad and Dusty’s differences and old hostilities rise again, especially in a remote cabin setting.
It hits the obvious Christmas marks with the fathers acting as Sage Grandpa Figures, like in the sweetest bowling scene you’ll ever see or when guns and some innocent turkeys get involved. And the Tree Buy & Trim scene is a little less heartfelt than we’re used to and a little more “electrocute-y”…but when that’s combined with a Nativity Scene-meets-family-confrontation, you can’t argue that the familial elements of a Christmas movie aren’t included.
What clinches the “Christmas Movie” designation is the storyline that occurs around the song “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” When a movie climaxes on Christmas Day with a bunch of strangers singing, you get the holiday feels.
The movie is funny, heartfelt, and all about holiday family traditions. And when Mel Gibson is the funniest character in the whole movie, well, it’s a Christmas miracle. Very Merry.
