'Oh. What. Fun.' Movie Review: Michelle Pfeiffer makes this family dramedy actually fun

Cast: Michelle Pfeiffer, Felicity Jones, Chloë Grace Moretz, Denis Leary, Dominic Sessa, Danielle Brooks, Devery Jacobs

Director: Michael Showalter

Language: English

Oh. What. Fun. as a title can have many meanings. Of course, the name is out of the Christmas carol. If you go by the trailer, the film talks about a family that is trying to have fun. Christmas is around the corner and so are the vacations. We get multiple montages of one happy family. But most of the people have a skewed understanding of this. When all the people are having fun, it’s the mother of the house who has to make most of the sacrifices. She’s the one who is keeping her happiness away so that everybody in the family can have a smile. This sacrificing mother is played by the iconic Michelle Pfeiffer.

What the film is about?

Claire Clauster makes the Christmas magic happen every year for her family but her children and grandchildren don’t realise the effort it takes until she goes missing.[2] The title is a reference to the lyrics of “Jingle Bells” by James Lord Pierpont: “Oh what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh”.

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The sentiment of a mother has been milked with screeching emotions in Hindi cinema. The monikers are aplenty. But we have seldom made movies where the woman of the house one day decides to wear the pants and he who she wishes to be. No commands. No orders. Full freedom and independence. Maybe the inimitable Sridevi in _English Vinglish_. Good that that Michelle’s family is at least not borderline toxic and misogynistic. They just neglect her relentlessness to keep a family together purely because they are too swayed by their own selfish desires.

Based on the same name by Chandler Baker, Oh. What. Fun by Michael Showalter, the film avoids melodrama and the cruises along with moments of mirth and madness. This particularly happens when Claire, the delightful character Michelle essays, disappears to excuse herself from her uncaring family. But the makers don’t use this conflict as a cliffhanger. Everybody is told about her whereabouts, except for the people who are missing her the most. And rightly so. The film is cliché, but charismatic.

And don’t be surprised if you want to give your mother a hug after watching the film. Hindi cinema has already done that with _Baghban_ in 2003. Emotional sentiments continue to be the same even in the West. And even after two decades. The more things change, the more they remain the same.

Rating: 3 (out of 5 stars)

Oh. What. Fun. is now streaming on Prime Video