Parents' Guide to Double Trouble

Shaun Piccinino's family-oriented casino Christmas caper is ho-ho-horrible. Double Trouble is the director's first family film, and his inexperience is evident. Parents long for safe places to activate their kids' imaginations, but earning that trust means that all parts of a story need to be considered. Here, the premise is pretty solid: Two sisters disobey their parents and try to get back to their room before their mom and dad realize they're gone—and if they have to stop a jewelry heist to accomplish that, so be it. But iffy peripheral elements—like a teen girl in some pretty revealing clothes, a tween shouting "bitch" at an adversary, and a young pop star doing vodka shots—might put some parents on edge.

While Double Trouble has some clever bits—like kitchen combat using salad tongs and a rubber spatula—the filmmaking quality just isn't there. The editing is way too loose, the dialogue hangs like dead air, and the actors' delivery styles are inconsistent, as if they're all performing in different movies. And key moments that motivate the characters' decisions just don't make sense. Much like Koji's flat performance as David, the entire experience is likely to leave both kids and parents feeling annoyed, bored, and wishing they'd spent their time elsewhere.