13 Days: THE Christmas Movie

There are many great and many not-so-great Christmas movies. Focusing on the great ones, I began preparing a top 10 list, but then I decided against that and instead wanted to focus simply on my favorite Christmas movie.

There were many options that I had to sift through in my mind. I grew up watching A Christmas Story with my good friend Jon (that and Adventures in Babysitting were on heavy rotation for a good 5 years of our adolescence). When I was in high school, TNT/TBS began showing the movie for 24 hours. After a couple of years, this movie was no longer quite as awesome due to the incredible inundation. Still one of the best, but it’s chance at number 1 diminished.

Some of the classic kids’ movies like the original Rudolph, Grinch, and Frosty movies could sneak into my top choices, but none can be my number 1, either. Jingle All the Way certainly got some serious consideration for the 1 spot, as did Home Alone. Both are great light-hearted family films, but just aren’t quite there.

So, what wins? National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation? Good guess, but, no. It’s another top 10 for sure. But that top spot is reserved for one of the funniest films I’ve ever seen, a movie my wife and I quote year round, a movie that is certainly under appreciated, and a movie that occasionally makes me wet myself just a little bit. That movie is: Just Friends. So, now I bring you my full review of this incredibly funny movie.

[rating:8.5/10]

This is one of the scenes that just sets this movie apart as a comedic masterpiece. The mother in the movie is phenomenal… in fact, if I could find better clips, I would put several on here.

Starring Ryan Reynolds, Amy Smart, and Anna Faris, this 2005 Christmas comedy is already a holiday classic as far as I’m concerned. While not entirely family friendly, it is tame enough to watch with my family as far as I’m concerned. The sexual comments are not too off-color and there is little in the way of foul language. And… unless you are offended by exploding Christmas decorations, the film offers little int he way of violence.

The basic plot… a chubby NJ boy (Reynolds) loves his female high school best friend (Smart), who is incidentally a hottie. After being humiliated when he decides to share his feelings with her, he bolts to the west coast, not to return for a decade. Then a series of events lead him involuntarily to an empty field in Trenton, near his mother’s home. While back in town, he see his former BFF and the bumbling and fumbling begins. Throw in his psychotic client, played by Anna Faris, a former nerdy high school stalker turned semi-sexy EMT/musician (Chris Klein), and a cast of comedy gems, and the film produces big laugh-out-loud moments throughout.

If you haven’t seen this, rent it today. If you have, rent it anyway. If you are like me, you will finish reading this, go grab your copy, and throw it in the DVD player right away… because for me Just Friends is the perfect Christmas film.

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~ by thepaintedman on December 17, 2009.