“Just because things didn’t end happily does not mean that they never were happy.”

Justin’s rating: Beware mysterious magical indoor wind gusts!

Justin’s review: You know what’s weird about Christmas movies? There’s a complete subgenre of holiday time loop movies that have roots in Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Just about every year I see a different one of these, including Christmas Every Day, The 12 Days of Christmas Eve, and 12 Dates of Christmas. So might as well keep the tradition alive, because this year I’m hanging out with Jay Mohr in Christmas Do-Over.

As an aside, I’ve never really warmed up to Mohr as a comedian or a lead. This presented a challenge for an ABC Family flick, but what the hey, I’ll be gracious and give the guy a chance for the season.

Kevin (Mohr) is a divorced schmuck who gets the embarrassing and humiliating Christmas celebration at his ex’s that he most definitely deserves. He only goes because he actually seems to love his son Ben, but he’s bitter and snarky and doesn’t stack up to Todd, his ex’s new cardiologist boyfriend.

But hey, you only have to live a bad day once, right? That’s only true if your son doesn’t make a foolish wish that it was “Christmas every day,” and the groundhog god hears. Now Christmas is repeating over and over, and Kevin can’t escape town because of a mysterious boulder that keeps blocking the way.

As I winced at Kevin’s insecurity that made him loudly comment on everything and everyone to redirect attention to himself*, I got a mild shock of seeing Spaceballs’ Daphne Zuniga and Trancers’ Tim Thomerson as Kevin’s ex and ex-father-in-law, respectively. Probably the worst haircut I’ve ever seen on Thomerson’s haircut, by the way.

Christmas Do-Over doesn’t tread any new territory; this is, at best, cinematic comfort food because of its predictability. First, Kevin is shocked at the repeating day in the one place he doesn’t want to be. Then he abuses it for a while. Then he starts to become a nice guy. Then he delivers the best Christmas ever, and that’s a wrap.

Probably the biggest deviation is just how incredibly, utterly unlikable Kevin is from the onset. He’s way too childish and never shuts up, and while those are valid character traits, this film overplays it. I know that Groundhog Day’s Phil was a jerk, too, but at least he was funny and charming. That’s not the case here.

I found myself wishing that the screenwriter didn’t copy Groundhog Day’s script without coming up with any new ideas.** Inspiration is fine, plagiarism is not. And if I couldn’t get originality, then laughs would do. But since this is the Jay Mohr show, that wasn’t in the cards either. At best, this is fluffy amusement.

*Honestly this movie should be subtitled, “Hey it’s Kevin, look at me! Look at me!”

**There’s even a large gathering of townspeople in a festive park to celebrate the holiday. They stopped short of trucking Ned Ryerson in, however.

Intermission!

• “What is this, a prison toy?”
• Dude STOP grabbing the female employee by the arm
• The Christmas doorbell chime
• What town only has *one* road in and out?
• Peas on Earth… groan
• Thumb wrestling championship is a lame reason for a town to be known
• Where do you get a car-straddling bow?
• I admire that he does try to outrace the boulder. He could walk around it, though.
• “Kevin, what are you doing?” “Eating pie!”
• Burping out a Christmas carol is something you don’t see every day
• “Jesus, that’s not a very Christian thing to do!”
• “No one touches my peas!”
• “Jesus started it! Jesus should be disqualified!”
• “Why did daddy beat up Santa?”
• I think this movie is about one scene away from being an out-and-out romcom between Kevin and his grandmother-in-law
• “Who’s Missy?” “Better be his cat.”
• Every time loop movie needs a montage I guess
• Why can’t he walk around the boulder?
• Also, where did he get old timey dynamite?
• Would you spend your time loop practicing breakdancing? I didn’t think so.