A Review by Jordan Tobin
Managing to capture moments of instantly recognisable Christmas magic, from the traditional Christmas walk, to the ritual of waiting for Santa to drive past your road in his sleigh, Tyler Taormina’s new feature CHRISTMAS EVE IN MILLER’S POINT holds all of the familiar tropes of a Christmas movie, whilst at the same time subverting the formula by blending the comedy of NATIONAL LAMPOON’S CHRISTMAS VACATION with the melancholy of THE HOLDOVERS.
Returning to Long Island, the Balsano family are caught between celebration and an uncertain future as to whether this will be their last Christmas at the ancestral home. Because of the deteriorating health of the Balsano matriarch (Mary Reistetter), the family is faced with the dilemma of whether or not to sell her house. From the start, we’re given no introduction to any of the many characters; rather we observe how they navigate and interact within the family structure through a haphazard account of the evening. Dazzling light and decorations fill the screen with a soundtrack of old, overfamiliar, Christmas tunes. All of this adding to the particular feeling of the film being a memory lost in time.
Towards the end of CHRISTMAS EVE IN MILLER’S POINT, the emphasis on the familial situation shifts as we leave the confines of the family home to follow moody teenager Emily (Matilda Fleming) as she sneaks out to have fun with her friends. It is here that we get a greater understanding of what Christmas means from the viewpoint of the kids, with one of them going so far as to call secret Santa ‘capitalist propaganda’. This and other moments such as the incompetent cops played by Michael Cera and Gregg Turkington serve as moments of comic relief between otherwise tense scenes.
While the dramatic moments tend to be quickly downplayed as the family return to the festivities, emphasising the pressure to always be jubilant around the holidays, the sense of repression is always present. This is especially evident in Cousin Bruce (Chris Lazzaro) who has moments of real emotional outburst that aren’t acknowledged by the rest of the family.
CHRISTMAS EVE IN MILLER’S POINT, highlights the difficulties of expressing yourself around people that you care for and the desire to do what’s best even when it’s difficult. As the evening starts to fizzle out and takes its toll, moments of reflection appear, which leaves the film with an open-ended vagueness. But make no mistake, CHRISTMAS EVE IN MILLER’S POINT will take you for a ride in its one horse open sleigh. A jolly good time?!