Rob Reviews "Oh. What. Fun."

Amazon Prime has officially released their latest holiday film on us in the form of the Michael Showalter-directed (and co-written) Oh.  What.  Fun., and with an all-star cast including Michelle Pfeiffer, Denis Leary, Chlöe Grace Moretz, Dominic Sessa, Jason Schwartzman, Eva Longoria, and Felicity Jones alongside of him, it would be natural to have high expectations here.  I’m not saying to lower those expectations, but I am also not saying it doesn’t at least come close to the bar.

Pfeiffer plays Claire, the matriarch of the Clauster family in Houston, Texas.  Each year, she goes all-out for her family at Christmas time as her adult children come home alongside a couple of grandkids, and that chaos bleeds over to the competitive nature with her neighbor Jeanne (Joan Chen).  When cracks start to show amongst the family and grows into an incident where there is a mini-version of the Kevin McCallister incident, her boiling point winds up FAR in the rear-view mirror.

Although this may not turn into a holiday classic, Oh.  What.  Fun. really is an entertaining way to spend a couple of hours.  This cast works well together down to the grandkids played by newcomers Rafaella Karaby and Drake Shehan. The story keeps moving at a nice pace with laughs and heart throughout.  The lack of accents by everyone involved outside of Pfeiffer is not as distracting as I thought it might be (Leary’s is explained in a subtle way the opening credits) because I was having fun watching this story unfold.  There is some math that doesn’t quite math here (especially if you live in Texas), but don’t let that take you out of this; sometimes, suspension of disbelief is a good thing.

The only thing that really sits this on my 2025 list and would not be a go-to for me at the holiday season is that the story goes off the rails a bit towards the end, but it does bring it back around to stick the landing.  There is a sequence that may not be quite appropriate for the younger set that may have to be skipped over to avoid questions you don’t want to answer this time of year (especially), which also made me shake my head a little bit.  I still would watch it again regardless, but it was really that close to being a new holiday classic.

The fact that this is going straight to Prime Video will be a benefit in a holiday season that is already pretty packed with other films of its ilk, Hallmark’s annual blitz, and awards push.  Oh.  What.  Fun.  is the type of film that can be on in the living room while you have stuff going on as you prepare for your own family’s arrival to keep that smile on your face as you are buried in wrapping paper, bows, and boxes while that smell of amazing food wafts its way through your home.