— by RACHEL COYNE —
While there’s no shortage of dysfunctional family holiday movies out there, there’s never been one featuring some of the hilarious talent from “The Daily Show,” which may be the saving grace of “Coopers’ Camera.”
“Coopers’ Camera” takes us back to Christmas 1985, where the Cooper family has received a VHS video camera as a gift. The story unfolds through a series of rough and shaky shots, supposedly taken with said video camera by the youngest member of the Cooper clan, so the movie has the look and feel of an old home movie.
And every element of classic home movies are there: Relatives in ugly holiday sweaters, haircuts that will be regrettable in the future, humiliating moments that should never be committed to film, etc. But nothing compares to the insanity that ensues when an estranged uncle shows up for the festivities.
The movie stars husband and wife team Jason Jones (who also co-wrote the script) and Samantha Bee — both correspondents on “The Daily Show” — and Dave Foley of “The Kids in the Hall” fame. That’s a whole lot of Canadian comedy talent in one small movie. And that’s the only reason I’m intrigued by “Coopers’ Camera.”
This genre of movie has been done time and time again, so it’s hard to really get excited about another story of “and you thought you’re family was bad!” But I’ll add this to my Netflix queue to check out once it’s available on DVD.
“Coopers’ Camera” recently played at the Vancouver International Film Festival and is hoping for a wider distribution. Until that, or the DVD release happens, here’s the trailer to stuff in your stocking:
Follow Rachel Coyne on Twitter at http://twitter.com/TheOpinionatedB.
That would be hard to watch for a whole movie.
That doesn’t look very good.