Parents' Guide to Christmas Eve in Miller's Point

Both strange and beautiful, this holiday-themed drama is noisy and quirky, bent on capturing moods more than plots, but its human poetry is surprisingly immersive and deeply touching. Christmas Eve in Miller's Point might be dismissed as a National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation-like slapstick romp based on promotional materials, but it's far from that. Rather, it feels like a nontraditional way of looking at tradition. Its funny moments are so sly and offbeat that you might not even realize they're funny until later. (Michael Cera, who also co-produced, plays a deadpan police officer with several of these sideways comical moments.) The plot elements related to selling the family house and teens sneaking out aren't used for any particular kind of storytelling; they're just things that happen, with no discernible outcome. Moreover, even though the Christmas décor is rich with warmth and nostalgia, very little of the movie has to do with the holiday, other than it being the reason this family has gathered.

What really happens is that we find ourselves observing the characters' small moments. The camera roams the house, Altman-esque, liable to go anywhere at any time and listening to everything. Maybe these moments have no introduction or conclusion, and maybe they occur almost unnoticed within a cacophony of characters talking over one another, but they're still recognizable and powerful. They contain hurt, joy, regret, confusion, and much more. Christmas Eve in Miller's Point won't be to everyone's taste—it's more like a thousand little poems than a satisfying story—but it offers a night to remember.