Schmaltz comes for a small town in wishlist-thin That Christmas
Based on a series of children's books, That Christmas barely stuffs enough hokum in its stocking to make it as holiday background noise.
Photo: Netflix
Not even mentioning his association with Blackadder and Mr. Bean, Richard Curtis has written some of the most enduring British rom-coms of the last 30 years, ranging from Four Weddings And A Funeral and Notting Hill to Love Actually and Bridget Jones’s Diary. That these abilities with slapstick stupidity, breezy wordplay, and happy-ending warmth could translate to a children’s book about Christmas seems more believable than the magic of Santa Claus. But That Christmas, which adapts Curtis and artist Rebecca Cobb’s picture book into animation, is a stingy giver. Schmaltz-heavy and wishlist-thin, That Christmas offers very little and doesn’t even have the self-awareness to include the receipt.
Discarding the endearingly scribbly style of Cobb’s illustrations in favor of a smooth cartoon realism befitting How To Train Your Dragon character lead Simon Otto (here making his directorial debut), That Christmas crumples up its source like wrapping paper. Where Cobb and her messy, minimal depiction of a clumsy Santa, a lonely snowman-builder, and a holiday lunch usurped by chaotic candy-crazed children evoked the colorful shambles of Roald Dahl illustrator Quentin Blake, Otto and his team at Locksmith Animation (Ron’s Gone Wrong) give the film a generic sheen matching its generic narrative. Low-key dramatic moments allow the elegant lighting to shine, and for some of the detailed background work to catch the eye, but a general sense of mundane mania drags the film down to its screenplay’s level.