A Not So Merry Christmas review: Mexican Xmas comedy is unusual yet uninspiring

Language: Spanish with English audio and subtitles Cast: Mauricio Ochmann, Ana Brenda Contreras, Manu Nna, José Sefami, María Rojo, Kaled Acab Director: Mark Alazraki It is the season of Christmas movies on OTT, and here’s one from Mexico that tries to be a bit different. A Not So Merry Christmas, titled Reviviendo la Navidad in original Spanish language, tries mixing rom-com and family drama ingredients with fantasy fiction to set up Yuletide vibes aimed at audiences across age groups. A Not So Merry Christmas is structured as a time-loop adventure — where the protagonist falls into a recurrent chain of events, living out the same day or experience over and over again. The genre has gained in popularity over the years ever since Harold Ramis reinvented the rom-com within a comic fantasy storyline in his 1993 Hollywood hit Groundhog Day, starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell. Time-loop as a fantasy storytelling device has since then been used in films and shows generically as varied as the action drama (Edge Of Tomorrow), thriller (Source Code), mystery (Russian Doll), horror (Happy Death Day), and comedy (Naken), among others. A Not So Merry Christmas ends up a tale that isn’t strictly fantasy fare like the above-mentioned instances, rather the film’s story moves ahead blending reality and dream. The film casts Mexican star Mauricio Ochmann as the protagonist Chuy Padilla, whose big problem is Christmas day is also his birthday, although almost everyone tends to overlook the second bit. So, while he gets the customary birthday song and cake from his wife and kids on the morning of 25 December, the joy is shortlived. While he hosts the mandatory family get together in the evening, folks turn up to celebrate Christmas rather than his birthday. “When your birthday is on Christmas, you only get one gift,” Chuy complains, and when he mentions his woes to his wife, her retort is blasé: “Don’t play the victim, love.” Despite the interesting premise, the build-up is mundane. You are left hoping excitement should kick in once the story actually begins. An attempt to infuse drama is visible at an early Christmas dinner sequence during Chuy’s party, where picks fights with everyone including his parents and siblings over everything from the cheese sauce being served to the piece of land his father gave to his brother. He snubs his relatives and their love for Christmas as an excuse to party and get gifts from him, calling the whole exercise an example of “freeloadism, paraticism and expectism”. Exasperated, he leaves the party in a huff, insisting Christmas is over and done with for him. Except that isn’t. Chuy is in for a shock when he comes face to face with his godmother, who chides him for not understanding the true purpose behind Christmas. “You have to see the magic, Chuy,” says his godmother, and casts a spell on Chuy that will change his outlook towards Christmas and its relevance. Halfway through the film you start getting the sneaking feeling of what to expect over rest of the runtime. When Chuy wakes up the next morning after the encounter with his godmother, it is his birthday / Christmas all over again. His wife, son and daughter are ready with cake and song once again. After the day wears out, the process is repeated the next morning. Chuy realises he is waking up on 25 December year after year, on each new day. Juan Carlos Garzon and Angelica Gudino have written a simplistic story that doesn’t have enough humour to justify its billing as a comedy, nor does the story have ample drama to keep the audience engaged despite being unconventional. The storyline complicates matters for Chuy because every time he wakes up there are fresh complications in store, thanks to all that happened between the last Christmas day and the present one. He has no recollection whatsoever of the year that has passed in between but the consequences of things that would have happened all through the year are for him to face. “I’m hexed,” he declares, terrified. Of course, no one will believe him. The film’s biggest disappointment has to be in the way it ends. Without giving away spoilers, the creative team were plain lazy to settle for a makeshift ending that utterly fails to redeem the otherwise mediocre storytelling you get over a runtime of around 100 minutes. The writer duo of Garzon and Gudino seem too concerned about maintaining feel-good vibes all through the narrative, possibly to justify the film’s release on a festive weekend. Creating smarter gags and twists to sustain each new experience that Chuy has upon waking up each morning might have helped. The film has plot situations and characters that try to initiate conversation on empowerment, sexual inclusivity and consumerism, except these attempts are too superficially wedged into the plot and appear to be mere formality. The objective of the film, to reiterate the value of Christmas as an occasion to strengthen familial bonds and the spirit of sharing, is highlighted by Chuy’s line: “When did Christmas go on from being about the birth of Jesus to the gifts from Santa Claus?” The lofty gestures at imparting a comment or two, however, are done in by the film’s overall monotonous tone. You spot the odd gaffe, too. A group of saffron-clad sadhus who can levitate, for instance, are referred to as Buddhists by Chuy in a scene. Technically, the version streaming on OTT in India has English dubbing that leaves much to be desired, adding a cheesy feel to the film. There is not much that a cast can do in a film which seems unsure on its intent right from the scripting stage. Mauricio Ochmann, nonetheless, brings alive Chuy with a cranky comic edge, an act that somewhat elevates the storytelling process. Ochmann, a star of Mexican telenovelas, renders a vulnerable edge to Chuy, otherwise scripted as too smug a man for his own good. The trouble with the film is Chuy’s story stars to get uninteresting as the story unfolds. In turn, this becomes a hurdle for the entire cast of A Not So Merry Christmas, a not so obvious recommendation to get into Yuletide moods. A Not So Merry Christmas is showing on Netflix

Vinayak Chakravorty is a critic, columnist and film journalist based in Delhi-NCR.