EXmas
2023
Director: Jonah Feingold
Writers: Dan Steele
Stars: Leighton Meester, Robbie Amell, and Eleanor Walker as “Elderly Churchgoer”
Where to Watch: Prime Video
Review Overview
Holiday score: 7
Does EXmas meet the requirements to be considered a holiday movie? Let’s go through the list. Christmas morning, check. Christmas presents, check. Someone dressed as Santa, check. Hockey on Christmas day, check. Christmas goat, check. T-Rex baby Jesus, check. Edibles on Christmas Eve, check. What’s that? You didn’t have edibles on Christmas Eve? Was that just my house? You missed out. I think EXmas checks enough of the boxes to score a solid seven.
Romance score: 8
The protagonists in this movie, Ali and Graham, nail the whole “Sam and Diane”, “Patrick and Kat”, “Margaret and Andrew”, “Peter and Gamora” thing. Good writing and good acting make for a good love story. Who knew that’s all it takes. Is anyone from Hallmark reading this?
Comedy score: 7
The love/hate relationship between Ali and Graham makes for some funny situations and the movie takes advantage of them. There are also supporting characters that provide comic relief. Compared to hilarious holiday movies like Elf and Spirited, its just ok, but compared to the other holi-rom-coms I review, it’s like Airplane.
The Full Review
Today I am reviewing the movie EXmas. I would like to preface my review by saying this movie includes accidental drug use, a couple of objectionable words, and characters who have sex off-screen. I know many people who watch holi-rom-coms prefer 100% clean movies and this is not one of them. It’s not Eddie Murphy Raw, but it’s not a Hallmark movie either. Now you know.
I have to tell you, When I’m reviewing holi-rom-coms, I see a lot of movies that do pretty good at the holi part. It’s not really that hard. Set the movie in December, add some snow or a mystifying lack of snow, drink some hot chocolate, have someone dressed in red and boom, it’s a Christmas movie.
I also see so, so many movies that try for the rom part and fail so, so, so miserably that I laugh and cry at the same time. I actually laugh, cry, growl, seeth, and scream into the void. Just because two people fall in love doesn’t make a romantic movie actually romantic.
And I see a ton of movies that don’t even try for the com part. Sorry, what’s that? They ARE trying to be funny? Um, no they aren’t. Please tell me they aren’t. There is no way they are trying to be funny. Sure sometimes people try to be funny and they aren’t like Dad’s, class clowns, or Dane Cook. But it’s obvious that these people are trying to be funny. Most holi-rom-coms just don’t even try for the com and end up just a holi-rom. That doesn’t sound right. A rom-holi? A dy-mantic? A holi-mantic? Whatever it is, these movies feel incomplete. Fortunately EXmas actually delivers on all three of the holi-rom-com areas. It’s like a Christmas miracle.
Even though EXmas hits all three of the holi-rom-com categories, I did feel like something is missing, but I just can’t put my finger on it. I kept getting this feeling in the front of my brain that there was something this movie should have. Something that got cut out or should have been longer, or something. Whatever, let’s move on.
EXmas is the story of Ali and Graham. Graham is a video game designer in LA. It’s almost Christmas and his boss is pushing him to finish the game before the big day. OK, I work in IT and something bugs me about Graham’s job. He’s supposed to be the head game designer for this company and yet he is stuck doing the quality control? There is no way in H-E-double-hockey-sticks that any company would have it’s lead designer test a game. It’s like having Darth Vader test the elevators in the Death Star. “I find the speed of this turbo-lift disturbing.” I’m sorry, but Darth should be out hunting rebels, or choking out minions, or making prank phone calls. “Greetings. Is your refrigerator running?” Graham should be designing more games, not testing games in development. But I digress…again.
Ali is an accountant who really wants to be a baker. I have no snarky remark about Ali’s career choices, but I now remember that the thing that is missing in this movie has something to do with Ali. Shoot, I just can’t remember what it is, but when I do, it will be like, “BANG! That’s it!” What’s important is that Ali and Graham used to be engaged and now they are not. As December marches on, both are feeling sad because they will be alone for the holidays. Ali will be alone because her friends are jerks. Graham will be alone because his boss is a jerk. What’s that? You think you know what will happen next? Well, no. I don’t think you do.
Graham decides that this is 2023, damn it, and IT people can work from where ever they please. He packs up his laptop and flies to surprise his family a few days before Christmas. But Graham gets the real surprise when he arrives home and finds Ali celebrating the holidays with his family. What’s that! You DID see that coming. Well, congratulations Sherlock. You’re smarter than me. I mean smarter than I. Smarter than I am. Oh, shut up.
It’s a classic 80s sitcom scenario and I LOVE it. When Graham’s parents tell him that they invited Ali to spend the holidays with them, you can practically hear Graham quote Arnold from Different Strokes, “What you talkin’ ‘bout, Willis!?!”
Even though they have barely spoken since the break up and they can barely stand to be in the same room, Graham and Ali decide they will both spend the holidays with Graham’s family. Will Graham and Ali use their animosity to make Christmas uncomfortable for everyone? Yes please. Will Graham and Ali force Graham’s family to choose which one can stay for the holidays? I would never ask my family if they want me or my wife to stay for the holidays. We all know the answer to that. Will T-Rex baby Jesus make this a crossover with Jurassic Park? I wish. No seriously, that has been my Christmas wish for the last 40 years. Will Graham and Ali figure out what went wrong with their relationship and patch things up in time to celebrate under some mistletoe? You’ll have to watch EXmas to find out and I highly recommend you do.
Holiday Score: 7
When describing the holi in this movie, I feel like Stefon from SNL. “Oh, yes, yes yes, this movie has everything. It has church AND hockey on Christmas day. It has T-Rex baby Jesus AND a rubber ducky baby Jesus. It has a Christmas goat. It’s got everything”. It may have a lot of Christmas elements, but it could have been set at any holiday with minimal changes and it would have been the same. Swap out hockey on Christmas for football on Thanksgiving and you have a Fall holi-rom-com. Swap out t-rex baby Jesus for t-rex Easter bunny and this is an Easter holi-rom-com, which there should a lot more of. Still, it’s fine and deserves a solid seven.
Romance Score: 8
Right off the bat, you know this movie will be better than most holi-rom-coms because you’ve got moderate stars in the leading roles. Robbie Amell, famous for his role in Upload and The Duff, is a good Canadian kid who wanted to be a hockey player until he realized that too many pucks to the face would ruin his chiseled good looks.
Leighton Meester is famous for her role in Gossip Girl and The Roomate. I may not have a crush on Leighton Meester the way I do on Robbie Amell, but I don’t dislike her in this movie. I just feel like she didn’t bring all of her to this role. Seriously, she really is missing something. Maybe she tried something different in this movie. Maybe her best parts were cut. Tell me if you figure it out. I'm dying to figure it out. Whatever it is, she's also pretty good in this movie.
The love/hate relationship between Ali and Graham is fun to watch. You enjoy seeing them duke it out and you also hope they will remember what brought them together in the first place. There are times when they are humorously rude to each other. And there are times when they are vulnerable and grow closer. Ultimately I believe Ali and Graham earn the ending of this movie, whatever that may be.
Comedy Score: 7
You may have guess that I’m a big fan of Robbie Amell. He’s got the looks of Ryan Renolds and the comic delivery of Sam Giambrone. He's that kid from the Goldbergs. Seriously, close your eyes when Robbie talks and imagine Adam from The Goldbergs. He could totally be the grown-up version of Adam. Both lead actors have good comedic timing and help make this movie funny. Hey, it’s easy to look into someone’s eyes and pretend to be in love. It’s much harder to deliver a joke about a night of passion while in a church and wearing a turtleneck.
This movie also has its share of wacky supporting characters, led by Graham’s Mom and Dad. They are the classic awkward parents that are good for some holi-rom-com laughs. At times it feels like they may have ad-libbed some of their scenes. If that’s the case then they could be on an episode of Who’s Line Is It Anyway.
Holy crap, BANGS! That’s what bugged me about this movie. Leighton Meester has bangs. Don’t get me wrong, she’s a lovely girl, but her haircut makes her look like the nerdy girl in a movie where the captain of the football team bets he can make her prom queen. And not the version of this girl after she’s had her a “makeover”. She's the version before she takes off her glasses and you figure out she's a 10. You know, some people look amazing with bangs and some people...not so much. Ah, it feels good to figure that out.
Final Thoughts
If you are looking for a nice, polite, holi-mance (nailed it)...you should probably look somewhere else.
If you want to watch a complete holi-rom-com that checks all the boxes...then you should watch EXmas.
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