Could have been a classic film.

Rating: 5/10 (13 May 2012)

No matter how many times I watch this film, with all it's little cameos and stories converging into a final mixed situation airport scene, I can't stop thinking that this was a lost opportunity. With the line up of top "box office" stars, this film falls down on some ridiculous stories and bad language. By adding the bad language it suggests that this is an adult movie, but the theme is based upon love and Christmas family togetherness, which is both confusing and annoying. Confusing because this film abandons it's aim to be a seasonal family favourite for sensationalism and the usual British idea that to make a good film that will appeal to Americans, you have to add shock tactics, that a good script and top actors are not enough. Annoying because with the bad language it doesn't qualify for the seasonal Christmas Day family film, sitting around the telly after dinner. Annoying because the story plots are so poor, with only one exception. That exception is the story with Emma Thompson and Alan Rickman. They act everyone else off the film. The lost opportunity is that the film makers didn't abandon everything else and just concentrate on their story. This is one of Emma Thompson's finest moments. Such a shame that it is buried beneath such ordinariness. I would have gladly given 10 out of 10 if the film had been centred entirely around her's and Alan Rickman's characters.