‘Oh. What. Fun.’ Review — Michelle Pfeiffer Shines, The Rest of the All-Star Cast Fades

There are glimpses in the beginning of the new Prime Video holiday comedy Oh. What. Fun. that reminds you why Michael Showalter has so many stans. They used to argue that the writer and director could do no wrong. When you look over the first half of his filmography, you begin to understand why. The writer of the cult classic Wet Hot American Summer and the director of the Academy Award–nominated The Big Sick helped reinvent the genres of satire and romantic comedy.

Michael Showalter is a filmmaker who knows his audience. He pays homage to the comedies that inspired Oh. What. Fun., like the classic John Candy and Steve Martin holiday film. One of my personal favorites is Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. The main character notes that these films are never viewed through the lens of the matriarch of the holiday movie genre. This is reflected in Laila Robins’s (The Boys) role as Neil’s anxiety-ridden wife.

Then, throw in Dennis Leary, reminding everyone of the cult classic holiday comedy The Ref. The first act of Showalter’s film brings back the edgy holiday-comedy vibe. With plenty of angst, simmering resentment, and unexpected heart—until it doesn’t. Remarkably, despite an all-star cast, the film loses steam. Thus, it becomes unsure how to use its lead’s standout performance and a fresh spin on a holiday film.

And that is a real shame, because Michelle Pfeiffer, who plays a mother in desperate need of validation, Claire Clauster, is wonderful here. Pfeiffer is funny, manic, and frazzled, making you feel for her. Yet she remains three-dimensional because you also cannot help but judge her. Her actions are not entirely selfless. Which, frankly, is refreshing. You can see why she feels undervalued.

Showalter’s script, which he co-wrote with freshman scribe Chandler Baker, has Claire hard at work forcing her perfect holiday magic on her family. Her husband, Nick (Leary), tries to stay out of her way while telling everyone he only watches PBS. Even though he secretly loves reality television. Sadly, Claire has been dropping hints to her husband and their children. She wants to be nominated for the Best Holiday Mom contest by her favorite talk-show host, Zazz Tims (Eva Longoria).

Everyone ignores her desperate hints, and her kids come home. They are all a bunch of winners, let me tell you. The Holdovers star Dominic Sessa plays their youngest, Sammy. His girlfriend has just dumped him because he has no ambition. Frankly, I’m on her side. Felicity Jones plays her eldest daughter, the author. She is married to Jason Schwartzman’s Doug. For some reason, the middle child, Taylor (Chloë Grace Moretz), and everyone in the family love to bully the poor guy.

At that point, the movie flounders with ideas that never come together. In a plot point that ignores common sense, Claire is left at home after buying everyone holiday tickets to a reality dancing competition her grandchildren love. Even though she has the tickets, they still get in. Even though she has a cell phone, she does not call them. And get this: even though they have a third car, she does not follow them. Instead, she gets in the car, takes off, and somehow runs into Danielle Brooks (Peacemaker), who plays Morgan, a delivery driver, in an underwritten role.

There, the movie should have taken off, creating comedic friction. However, with a big-name cast, they try to give everyone their screen time. Yet no one does anything with it. I am almost sure the Schwartzman character was written to have serious marital problems and his unusual interest in his sister-in-law’s sexuality. Yet, it never comes to fruition. Every time a storyline begins to feel like it is establishing itself, it is abandoned. Then it goes only surface-level for another star-supporting turn. It feels like shallow actor-studio roulette.

Oh. What. Fun. could have been a new Holiday classic. This should have been a movie about family secrets coming to the surface. Then, finding the meaning of Christmas. Getting all the emotional baggage out in the open, which had remained dormant for so long, was necessary. Instead, the film never takes that essential step. It loses the verve it establishes in the first act, becoming as bland as a reheated holiday turkey.

You can stream Oh. What. Fun. only on Prime Video!