I hadn't seen this one before but when I saw it had two Cheers stars back together I knew I had to give it a watch. I'm glad I did as it was a lot of fun.
Add a Review
-
chiefsequatchie18 November 2018
-
Not remembering much of the movie, except the 65%+ part(basically starts from the lovebirds falls out to end). It once again got me thinking - Why do people always have to be so scientific about everything? There's obviously good reason Santa Claus don't just casually appear in open public or on live TV, and there's good reason for the saying "Christmas is about believing". When I saw Alex freaking out at Peter, believing he's cheating on her with his Elven quartermaster at North Pole base, then how rudely her dad treated Santa afterwards, I flared. Truth be told I'm quite surprised he didn't already dispatch Krampus for this insolence - he really ticks me off.
Also, Peter's behaviour after he and Alex's fallout - (sigh) boy, he got totally emasculated. As son of a semi-divine figure I thought he'd have more dignity in him, and after his fallout he just go full-on cold disappointment mode. The story ends with Alex's family surprised at the Claus' sleigh repaired and lifted off and Alex and peter reconciled at the same time? If it were me I'd go with a story that's like:
"After the fallout with Alex, Peter went all cold and insensitive. He quickly fixes the family sleigh and Alex's family - especially Alex's father - watches in utter surprise as the sleigh lifts off. And as they prepare for hyperspeed, Glinda, the Elven quartermaster, turns her head towards Alex and her father. 'You are a nice lady,' she says, 'too bad you couldn't take the leap of faith.' And the sleigh zooms off into the darkness in a red-and-white light.
"Peter then glances back at Alex. 'Glinda's right, you know,' he says to Alex - and she sees in his eyes that there's no affection or careness; only icy cold disappointment - as he turns his head back forward, took one step, then also zoomed away without a word in a red-and-white light. Alex and her family then stood on the cold ground, stunned... speechless."
They should make the story into having the sleigh fixed during that fallout, not after reconciliation, and have the display of the Santa Magic as the Claus' family demonstration of dignity and his disappointment at how little faith his future daughter-in-law's family have, plus giving the Claus family the initiative to say the words, "I'm disappointed in you."
Okay, I know that sometimes seeing is actually believing, but there ARE times in life, where there is no evidence to certain things. I always believed that Christmas Magic is something of great divinity and sacredness, and it's not one for mortal eyes to witness. I get annoyed when adults tell young children that there "is no Santa" - do people really have to SEE Santa to believe in Santa? What makes us mortals believe we even HAVE the right to meet Santa himself in person? Santa may or may not be corporeal, but being REAL doesn't have to be CORPOREAL. Christmas itself isn't corporeal - hasn't been corporeal since day one - but do people go around and tell others that Christmas isn't real? What really happened to "taking leaps of faith", to believe in something just because you believe in it, without any evidence, eye-witness, reports, or even rumors to support that belief? I'm from the country that DOESN'T celebrate Christmas on a country-wide level, and even I, in my own ways, believe in Santa Claus to be very real. Alex's father gives me the flares: the insolence he displays in front of Santa was really the insolence of Christmas, and in my opinion, the Divine Christmas Magic - if he doesn't believe, he doesn't deserve. Even with all things end really well and smoothly the ending's treating him too kind, and he still annoys the hell out of me.
Hope 2016's Santa Claus portrayals can have more of a sense of dignity and hardness, the old man Claus can be tougher, resourceful with an overwhelming temperament, and the children Claus not always get all mopey over his or her love interest that when they fall out the young Claus can instantly re-focus on the annual courier mission. -
bachristoferson8 December 2019We thought it was a quirky fun Christmas movie missing one thing. Where's the reindeer?
-
Jackbv12310 November 2020This movie relies heavily on exaggerated extremes for humor. Alex is a rigid realist with no room for video games or Santa Clause. Her father is worse, if that's possible. He has never heard of tact. In fact he seems bound and determined to offend Peter and his family from the start. Meanwhile Peter's father is actually Santa Claus.
Much of the movie is the Claus family's frivolity vs the Spencers' judgmentalism. It makes for a lot of fun situations. Throw in efforts to hide the secret. I wish Alex's dad wasn't SO mean. I find it hard to laugh when I want to throw something sharp and lethal at one of the characters.
In this type of movie, acting is hard to judge. George Wendt and Shelley Long play their parts well even when some silliness is required. Kassia Warshawski has moments, good and bad, but mostly good. Lucas Bryant has some awful moments, especially when he gets nervously excited.
Don't go by my rating. Alex's dad ruined it for me and this type of humor isn't my favorite. -
studioAT7 January 2017The main draw of this TV movie is really the fact that 'Cheers' stars Shelley Long and George Wendt reunite in it.
But actually this is worth watching without that detail, because a decent story is being told. Yes, it's a little predictable, and it's certainly more than a little cheesy, but it's well meaning, and hey- it's a Christmas film.
I enjoyed this far more than I thought I would, and that's because of the performances that were given by the actors, who try their best to rise above the sentiment that can sometimes clog films like this.
If you're in need of a 'Cheers' reunion, this could be the place to go. -
SimonJack14 January 2019"Merry In-Laws" is a TV film made in Canada for the 2012 Christmas season. It's a fantasy and comedy romance that's mostly goofy while taking pokes at science. The plot isn't original - the son of Santa Claus, Peter, is in the real world and plans to get married. Alex and her parents need to meet his parents.
Oh, yes. Alex is a single mom who has a cute little boy - another established trait for many of these holiday films. But this film is a little fuzzy on her son's father. Her dad, Steven (played by Greg Lawson), is a scientist and mentions something about her attending a Stephen Hawking program when she was just 18 - against his wishes, where she apparently became pregnant.
There's very little plot and not much acting in this fantasy fiasco. Lucas Bryant, who pays Peter, spends much of his screen time tongue-tied and making goofy faces. George Wendt and Shelley Long as Mr. and Claus are mostly silly. Alex's mom, Joyce (played by Barb Mitchell), is a frustrated psychologist married to the science airhead Steven. Steven and Joyce too are silly in much of their roles.
One could tell this movie wasn't intended for family viewing right away. Peter and Alex are living and sleeping together, with her son in her home, even before they are engaged. This film is mostly a goofy hodgepodge with nothing to recommend it. -
Christmas-Reviewer25 August 2016This film is a delight. Shelley Long Reunites with her "Cheers" co- star George Wendt in this Christmas Theme Film. What is perfect is that they play Mr & Mrs Santa Claus.
There is something so special about a "Santa Claus" theme that I will be a huge sucker for.
This is an above average TV-Movie. In this film: A recently engaged woman plans a get-together so her parents can meet her fiancé's family. It turns out that his parents are Mr. and Mrs. Claus.
Lots of fun and has a pure heart. Family safe. Bake some cookies and watch together. -
There's absolutely no chemistry between Lucas Bryant and Kassia Warshawski as an engaged couple who have to deal with their potential in-laws. George Wendt and Shelley Long are Bryant's gregarious parents who have a secret life, and Warshawski's parents (Greg Lawson and Barb Mitchell) are complete stick-in-the-mud, with Lawson an absolutely horrible suspicious man from the start, investigating Bryant's parents and finding out apparently that they don't exist.
Jacob Thurmeier, as Warshawski's illegitimate son, discovering evidence that makes it appear that Wendt and Long are actually Santa and Mrs. Claus. Nothing really happens for long periods of time, only showing Lawson sitting at a computer, then saying all sorts of cruel stuff to his daughter, and by this time, you want him to be grandma and get run over by a reindeer.
This Lifetime TV movie is a rip-off of other holiday movies, having been done in various ways over the years, probably most successfully as "Elf". Bryant has some magnetism, and Warshawski tries to add some sincerity to her role, but they seem mismatched as an on-screen couple. Long and Wendt are completely wasted but the magic they have while on-screen makes the difference of this getting a 4/10 as opposed to a 2. I normally do not watch Lifetime or Hallmark Christmas movies, but was attracted by the presence of the two "Cheers" stars. Without them and a few brief magic elements, this would have definitely gotten jeers. -
Kirpianuscus25 December 2017Nice enough for be moving. first for the eccentric option for George Wendt for Mr. Claus, a bad idea as hypothesis, an admirable result at the end. second - adorable performance of Shelley Long. not the last, the ordinary ingredients for a Christmas movie who, in this case, are more seductive. a film who reminds not exactly the spirit of Christmas but its mark on the family spirit. and this is more than a significant virtue.
-
inspectors7117 December 2019That should have been the title.
To commit to watching this lame TV movie about a young couple--perky scientist-girl and cutesy-poo teacher-boy having to bring their future in-laws together (blandly acted and unfunny science-dad and mom and perky Shelley Long and George Wendt as Mr. and Mrs. Claus, acting as if their career high-points ended when Cheers folded) means you've spun the digital dial and found nothing else on.
The trouble with mixing fantasy and comedy on TV is that keeping up a consistent stream of humor and wonder is dang-near impossible. A movie like this just has to go flat and flavorless sooner or later.
And when it did, what was a mildly entertaining bit of undigested cotton-candy becomes a wad of over-cooked, dried out cinematic oatmeal.
By the time the comedy of errors part and the betrayal part and the aw-shucks-it-weren't-nothin' part have taken place, I had lost interest.
The stale raisins that topped off the lump of oatmeal were the characters, for whom I had no interest--and they had no chemistry together, anyway.
Oh, well. Merry In-Laws, at best, might be filling for some viewers.
Just like a bowl of Quaker's, but without the maple syrup and brown sugar.
You'd have to be a masochist to eat that stuff. -
SanteeFats1 December 2014Another tis' the season movie. It is pretty good in my opinion. You have the young woman scientist with a kid who is shacked up with Santa's son. He asks her to marry him just before Christmas. This leads to Santa and the Mrs. coming out until Christmas Eve, accompanied by a young female elf. Her parents are also there and her dad is a real piece of work. He is some kind of well respected scientist who believes kids should be told the truth no matter what. The mom, a shrink of some kind, trails along until Santa and Mrs. joy of living starts to corrupt her (in a good way of course). There is a co-worker named Edward that her daddy keeps pushing at her as a much more suitable husband than Santas's son. Old Edward takes some pictures of the son with a female elf which causes her to dump sonny. George Wendt plays Santa as he has in several Christmas movies and does his usual bang up job. At the end of the movie everyone actually gets to see Santa and Mrs. take off in the sleigh, which by the way uses no reindeer but some super power source. All are over joyed except for a very stunned daddy.
-
rebekahrox20 November 2020This was cute, funny, and a nice romance. It was interesting to see Lucas Bryant in a more light=hearted role. Lately he has been playing the sullen, strong, silent type. Shelly Long was way over the top in my opinion, but I couldn't help laughing. Also there were a few truly badly behaved, even hateful characters in this one which added some tension to the comedy.
-
gasket36011 January 2022It's just plain good old new fashioned Christmas hokum. Don't start this movie with any preconceived notions. I did--and it wasn't a good idea. Allow the fun of a Christmas fantasy to take you out even just for a little while into a world of real make believe. Don't make of it something that it never intended to be in the first place. BUT, if you are uncertain of your ability to separate reality from fantasity, you probably ought not watch this. But if you can, there will be more than a few moments of amusement--no great belly laffs but a lot of fun nevertheless.