Michelle Pfeiffer in 'Oh. What. Fun.' Alisha Wetherill/Prime Share on Facebook Share on X Google Preferred Share to Flipboard Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Send an Email Print the Article Post a Comment Say this for Amazon's Oh. What. Fun.: Until its beleaguered protagonist, Claire Clauster (Michelle Pfeiffer), grumbles "Where are the holiday movies about moms?" it really hadn't occurred to me that most of the Christmas classics are about men. There are mothers and sisters and wives and girlfriends in It's a Wonderful Life or National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation or Elf, sure, but they're neither the heroes, nor the point - despite the fact that in reality, as this film emphatically points out, it's so often women who do the work that Santa gets all the credit for. Related Stories Movies Felicity Jones on the Unconscious Echoes Between 'Train Dreams' and 'The Brutalist' Movies Emma Corrin, Maika Monroe Wrap Up Star-Spangled London Film Festival With '100 Nights of Hero' Oh. What. Fun. The Bottom Line Not. That. Fun. Release date: Wednesday, Dec. 3 (Prime Video)Cast: Michelle Pfeiffer, Felicity Jones, Chloë Grace Moretz, Denis Leary, Dominic Sessa, Danielle Brooks, Devery Jacobs, Havana Rose Liu, Maude Apatow, Jason Schwartzman, Eva Longoria, Joan ChenDirector: Michael ShowalterScreenwriters: Chandler Baker, Michael Showalter Rated PG-13, 1 hour 46 minutes So, yes: Consider me fully persuaded that it's high time for Hollywood to give these ladies their due. I'm less convinced, though, that Oh. What. Fun. is the thank-you note they deserve. A forgettable blend of unearned saccharinity and unacknowledged sourness, the Michael Showalter-directed dramedy capably proves that Mom is the true angel of the season but falls well short of proving that Christmas is worth all her fussing in the first place. Not that Claire - apparently a Houston homemaker, though it's hard to be sure since the movie never bothers to explain how she and her amiably clueless husband (Denis Leary) are able to afford their extremely nice house - would ever question her commitment. She lives to host Christmas for her three adult children - harried firstborn Channing (Felicity Jones), flaky middle child Taylor (Chloë Grace Moretz) and aimless youngest son Sammy (Dominic Sessa) - even if that means doing all the cooking and cleaning and driving halfway across town to stock up on their favorite treats. The only thing she asks in return is that they nominate her for the Holiday Mom contest, put on by her favorite daytime host (Eva Longoria as Zazzy). When they ignore her not-so-subtle hints, she grits her teeth and tries to make the best of it anyway. It's not until they accidentally ditch her en route to a concert - which she bought all the tickets for, natch - that she decides she's had enough. Without so much as a note, she drives off on her own adventure, leaving the rest of the Clausters to fend for themselves. The biggest draw for a prospective viewer will undoubtedly be the cast, which also includes Jason Schwartzman as Channing's dorky but well-meaning husband, Joan Chen as the clan's snooty neighbor, Danielle Brooks in a small cameo as a delivery driver and more. Their collective star power, combined with the sets' warm lighting and luxe décor, gives Oh. What. Fun. a high-gloss sheen, promising a product that's a cut above the usual cheapo holiday junk. Without exception, however, they're all woefully underserved by a bland script (written by Showalter and Chandler Baker, based on Baker's short story) that assigns most of them maybe one personality trait apiece. Pfeiffer, who as the lead has the most meat to work with, turns in a solid performance, elevated by grace notes like the way she swallows Claire's disappointments. But in its determination to make Claire an Everymom, Oh. What. Fun. fails to give her any complex or unique interiority. Nor does this cast share the sort of chemistry that might sell the Clausters as a cohesive family unit. Their relationships lack specificity; in lieu of histories or wounds or inside jokes between them, they're built around threadbare tropes like "clueless sitcom dad" or "responsible eldest daughter." When emotions boil over during one tense dinner, I was only surprised to discover that any of these people harbored strong feelings about each other at all. What Oh. What. Fun. is able to depict with lived-in specificity is the list of grievances experienced by Claire and people like her. Mostly, they are hard to argue with. There is a lot of cultural pressure on mothers to make the Yuletide magical, and Claire probably is right that most of us could stand to be more forthcoming with "those three little words that mean so much to moms" - not "I love you," but "Can I help?" This movie feels made with the purpose of getting overburdened parents to nod furiously in commiseration, and I imagine it'll achieve that goal e