Happy Christmas

Lately I've had this odd obsession with Anna Kendrick. Part of it is trying to determine whether I find her attractive or not, a silly thing since most people can determine in two seconds an answer to that question. But I find myself repeatedly looking at pictures of her. She's certainly attractive, but not in a conventional sense, as her nose dominates her face. In Happy Christmas, her latest film, it's described as "aquiline," a polite way of saying bird-like, while the rest of her face looks like an animated chipmunk.

I'll say this--she's one of our finest young actresses. In a few days she'll be 29, and there's not a long list of better performers under 30 working regularly in films today. She's already had an Oscar nomination for her terrific performance in Up in the Air, but I like that she's doing work at the ground level of indie films like Happy Christmas (she will also be in the highly anticipated film of Into the Woods later this year).

So, on to Happy Christmas. It's written and directed by the prolific Joe Swanberg, a follow-up to the wonderful Drinking Buddies, which was one of my favorite films of 2013. Happy Christmas is not quite on that level, but I watched with a pleasant glow, delighting in the naturalism of the writing and acting.

Swanberg does triple duty as the husband of Melanie Lynskey. They are a happy couple with a baby boy about to turn two (played by Swanberg's son Jude). Into their lives like a whirlwind comes Kendrick as Swanberg's younger sister, reeling from a break-up and thinking about relocating to their town, Chicago. On her first night there, she goes out with her friend (Lena Dunham) to a party and gets so plastered Swanberg has to drive over and carry her into the car.

This does not go over well with Lynskey, who had hoped to use Kendrick as a baby-sitter. Instead she continues to use Mark Webber, whom Kendrick starts dating. Soon, though, the sisters-in-law bond, as Kendrick urges Lynskey to get back to her writing (Kendrick loved her first book, even though it was over her head). Lynskey is inspired, and the two, along with Dunham, work on Kendrick's crazy idea of writing an erotic romance novel for some quick cash.

But just when everything seemed too good to be true and I was wondering if this film had a conflict, Kendrick's drinking on Christmas Eve causes more problems.

I imagine, as with most of Swanberg's films, that this script was largely improvised. It had that feeling, of actors listening to each other and responding in character. A scene with Kendrick, Dunham, and Lynskey, having drinks together, sings with authenticity, as Lynskey's armor recedes and she bonds with them. Another scene, in which the three women discuss euphemisms for body parts, is also terrific, and gave me a thrill when Kendrick said the word "clit," and pointed out that "rosebud" is a term for the asshole, not the vagina.

The film is really about women, particularly Kendrick and Lynskey.  They are at polar opposites--one a little older, with a child and responsibilities, the other a young 27, irresponsible and selfish--and how they manage to connect and forgive.  The men in this story are far less important, serving as reflectors of the women's behavior.

Happy Christmas is a terrific film, even if it didn't exactly have a perfect release date.