Sorry to say, but I REALLY wanted to like this movie, I really did. I am a conservative talk show junkie and an ardent fan of the Sean Hannity shows and was looking forward to the release of this movie and bought it to show my family after Thanksgiving dinner. Before the family (four of us) arrived, I previewed the first few minutes of the movie and liked what I saw so far.
After we finished Thanksgiving dinner I put the movie on. My 38 year old son paid close attention while my wife and daughter kinda chatted paying less attention.
There were a couple laughs, but not many. Before long my son went to the girls and the thee of them chatted while I watched the movie.
The guest hosts on the Wednesday'S Hannity show really, REALLY, hyped the movie having several of the stars of the show on to talk about their experience making the movie. They likened the movie to Nat. Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (which the wife and I watch TWICE every season) and Home Alone (which we also watch every season).
I kept waiting for the movie to "take off." But it just kept plodding along with very little sense of it being a Christmas movie. If it was on TV when you're changing channels and came across it part way through, you'd be hard pressed to know it's a Christmas show. The only clue, most of the time, was Jingle Smells, the main character, wearing a Santa hat.
Christmas Vacation, Home Alone, The Santa Clause, etc., all give you a sense of traditional Christmases, Jingle Smells doesn't.
Since I bought it, own it, I might watch it again and see if there's something I didn't get the first time, but my wife won't watch it with me, SORRY TO SAY!