Movie Review: "Cup of Cheer" (2020)
Cup of Cheer Movie Review
Written by Stuart D. Monroe
Released by October Coast
Directed by Jake Horowitz
Written by Jake Horowitz and Andy Lewis
2022, 95 minutes, Not Rated
Released on November 6th, 2020
Starring:
Storm Steenson as Mary Nicelady
Alexander Oliver as Chris Mas
Liam Marshall as Keith
Jacob Hogan as Authuh
Helly Chester as Mrs. Clovenwich
Shawn Vincent as Mai Ex
Braden Barrie as Henchman
Steve Kasan as Sheriff Rudolph Hitler
Adam Jenner as Santa
Review:
Is this what I think it is? Is this an honest-to-goodness spoof comedy? Didn’t that genre die in the early 2000’s after the glut of steaming turds like Disaster Movie, Date Movie, Scary Movie 4 or 5? As someone who’s seen Blazing Saddles, Airplane!, The Naked Gun, Hot Shots, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, & Not Another Teen Movie too many times to count, the appearance of an indie spoof comedy that tears apart shitty Hallmark and Lifetime holiday movies got me excited.
It’s even cooler to say that while all the jokes don’t hit, Cup of Cheer hits a lot of holiday high notes and surprises with its adherence to the Zucker formula of telling actual jokes NOT spitting ham-fisted references. There’s plenty of raunch to go with the overly expositional storytelling style and eye-burning brightness of the whole overly cheery affair.
Mary Nicelady (Storm Steenson; The Olympus Project) is a big city reporter who’s been sent back to her tiny hometown of Snowy Heights to cover banal Christmas shit. Chris Mas (Alexander Oliver; Freelancer) runs Cup of Cheer, the famed local hot cocoa shop started by his late grandmother, Grandma Coco. Their “chance meeting” on the street (resulting in Mary covered in a bucket full of hot cocoa) shows instant sparks of clichéd love. Before long, Mary’s ex-boyfriend (who also happens to be a franchisee for national hot cocoa chain, Cocoa Flaps) shows up to threaten everything, and Mai Ex (Shawn Vincent; Taco Dick!) isn’t playing games. Can Cup of Cheer and the town’s Christmas cheer itself be saved?
Cup of Cheer utterly nails the look and tone of every awful Christmas movie you’ve ever been forced to watch during the holidays. It’s written in a way that literally overstates every single plot point to make the exposition of the story almost a character itself. With lines like, “The rent is due on Christmas Eve? But that’s the day before Christmas!”, Cup of Cheer leave zero doubt that you’re watching a farce overly colored in red and green. It’s not subtle (it’s a spoof, after all), but it’s a film that understands that aforementioned Zucker formula of using actual jokes and not just referencing other movies in silly fashion. The nods to other bad holiday films are all archetypal, and the jokes are often set up in advance and delivered later on to real effect. That’s what was ultimately missing from all those subpar spoof movies that nearly killed the genre.
Helly Chester as Mrs. Clovenwich (and you know that name is butchered every single time with hilarious results) is a scene-stealer. The same goes for Liam Marshall as Chris’ little brother, Keith (with the exception of that terrible lapdance scene). Both of them get the best lines and manage to push the plot along in the more natural ways. Then there’s Authuh (Arthur). He’s a time-traveler from jolly old England, and his character kills it with a level of zany that will please all you old-school comedy lovers. It’s frankly sublime in its zaniness.
Simply put, when you have little kids being intimidated by basic white chicks (and then being kidnapped without anyone noticing), oddly-timed lines that catch you off guard with their placement, and a racially diverse cop named Rudolph Hitler, you’re going to have enough laughs to make it a worthwhile affair. Some of the more extreme humor (like Mai Ex’s poop issue) falls a bit flat, but let’s face it- they can’t all be Airplane!
Cup of Cheer throws an inexperienced but hard-working cast of wacky characters working at breakneck speed. That breakneck speed is so pronounced that it almost stumbles and falls on its face a couple of times, but there are still enough genuine laughs to keep you entertained throughout (and even producing a surprise guffaw or three). It’s a movie made by people who understand the Zucker blueprint and have respect for it, a comedy that harkens back to a different kind of comedy.
It’s good to have the spoof movie back, folks. Cup of Cheer is the movie you have to show to that family member who’s obsessed with bad Christmas movies. We all have one.
Grade:
4.0 out of 5.0 stars
