Parents' Guide to The Baltimorons

This extremely simple but sweet, touching, and memorable holiday comedy-romance gets its power from its deep commitment to its characters and their backgrounds, concerns, flaws, and longings. Named after Cliff's improv comedy group, The Baltimorons was directed by Jay Duplass and co-written by Duplass and star Strassner. It's Duplass' first time directing a feature since the similarly simple and warmly effective The Do-Deca-Pentathlon—and his first time making a movie without his brother, Mark. But it continues the small-scale, somewhat metaphysical style of character studies the brothers are both known for (i.e., The Puffy Chair, Cyrus, Jeff, Who Lives at Home).

On the surface, not much happens, and characters interact in an almost mundane way, but there also seems to be something greater going on, some spiritual kind of connection. Here, Cliff and Didi may seem to have absolutely nothing in common—and, indeed, Didi almost seems to not like Cliff at all, so their relationship can feel a little off-putting. But over the course of their evening together, they find something intangible, something that viewers might not even be able to see and feel, but it's something they share. During the ride, Duplass gently and tenderly deals with some of the characters' most pressing troubles, not finding solutions, but simple steps forward. Its vaguely questionable title aside, The Baltimorons is a small treasure, good enough to become a perennial holiday re-watch.