A former convict is released and tries to win back his family and buy his daughter a Christmas present he promised in this festive drama. Here is the review.
Dennis Gerrard (Paul Giamatti) is released back into society after a four-year stretch, only to find out that his wife has got with his best friend Rene (Paul Rudd) and also told his daughter that he died of “some sort of cancer”. Determined to make things right, Dennis decides to go straight and weirdly asks Rene for a job. Fortunately, Rene is about to go to New York City in order to sell Christmas trees on a street corner and takes him along for the ride.
Things aren’t going well for the two men at first but, after Dennis meets a Russian lady called Olga, things start to turn a little brighter. It doesn’t quite help with Dennis finding it hard to shake the habit of stealing; he will nick anything from Border Guard’s wallets to Ferrero Roche.
All Is Bright is a strange breed of Christmas film. When it wants to be funny, it is. When it wants to be sad, it is. Yet sometimes, the film doesn’t know what it wants to be and a not a lot happens in many portions. For instance, it will show the two men just selling trees or sitting around a makeshift fire and then cut to Dennis’ daughter opening an advent calendar.
Both Paul Giamatti and Paul Rudd do a good job in their roles, as does Sally Hawkins as Olga. The film looks nice and it does have a touching finale, but it could have been better without the filler.
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