Oh. What. Amusing. It’s perhaps an overconfident title for a Christmas movie that, on the one hand, is very lucky to have attracted the great Michelle Pfeiffer to star, but on the other hand, it loses the magic of the season thanks to some truly believably questionable plot decisions in its second half. But let’s start with the positives. It would be Pfeiffer.
The star, who has delivered on his promises time and time again in films such as The Fabulous Baker Boys, French Exit, Up Close and Personal, One Fine Day, Dangerous Liaisons, Love Field and countless others, is one of my all-time favorites. In fact, I just rewatched field of love the other night and I can tell you that she was robbed of the Best Actress Oscar for that one. It really holds up. And in Oh. What. Amusing. she has all the heart and intelligence you would expect from someone with this kind of filmography. It’s just a shame the material (the screenplay is by director Michael Showalter and Chandler Baker based on the latter’s short story), she is not up to her talents.
As Claire Clauster, mother of a dysfunctional clan of three adult children who now craves a little attention and praise for herself, Pfeiffer, with her Texas accent, starts off with a bang, confronting a woman in a car full of obnoxious children in the backseat and reading them the riot act on how to deal with their mothers. This tells us exactly what we need to know about Claire, who gave everything to her family and is generally taken for granted, especially at Christmas, her favorite time of year and the one she spends months preparing to get right. Does she get the credit a mother deserves? Of course not, but like all mothers, doing what she has always done without glory is obvious. What she would really love is for one of her children to submit a letter extolling her virtues for the Holiday Mom of the Year contest on her favorite daytime talk show, The Zazzy Tims Show. Unfortunately, neither eldest daughter Channing (Felicity Jones), middle child Taylor (Chloë Grace Moretz) nor lovestruck youngest son Sammy (Dominic Sessa) would think anything of it even though she left them more than one clue.
They have all evolved in their lives in their own way. Channing is married to Doug (Jason Schwartzman), with offspring of her own to worry about; Taylor always brings a new partner to family parties, so who can keep up with her? and Sammy has been dumped by his girlfriend Mae-Bell (Maude Apatow) and now longs for pretty Lizzie Wang (Havana Rose Liu), who lives across the street from where his mother Jean (Joan Chen) seems to be loved and appreciated as the perfect mom. Even when exchanging their annual gifts, Jean gains the upper hand over Claire, further frustrating this frustrated matriarch of the Clauster clan. Even her beloved husband, Nick (Denis Leary), seems to have no idea how sad his wife is. But it’s Christmas and the show must go on.
The real problem arises when the family heads on their traditional Christmas Eve outing to watch the big local Christmas production and fail to notice that Claire has been accidentally left behind. Let the madness begin as Claire, a woman on the brink, decides she’s going to do something for herself and – SPOILER ALERT – that’s when Oh. What. Amusing. goes south, literally and figuratively.
Claire sets off in her car on a wacky road trip to…wait for it…Hollywood in order to unexpectedly make her way to The Zazzy Tims Show (Eva Longoria ably plays the host), and becoming one of the winning holiday moms (who apparently don’t spend Christmas with family but rather with Zazzy). Driving all day into the night from Texas, and with crippling complications along the way (spending the night with stranger Danielle Brooks in a motel where her car is towed is one of them), she somehow shows up at the studio doors on Christmas morning just in time for the live taping (doesn’t this show know it could have been pre-recorded?) and manages to get on the field. From there it gets crazier.
This part of this holiday confection just doesn’t seem to live in reality because Claire isn’t some wacky sitcom freak, she’s Michelle Friggin’ Pfeiffer, a star far too smart to make us believe she’s obsessed with a silly and these days rather dated title on a daytime talk show. Although the film aims to highlight the often thankless role of the family matriarch, Claire is a cut above the stereotype of a ’50s housewife and mother, except it’s not the ’50s anymore.
Okay, it’s silly to get too excited just for another streaming Christmas movie, but with a star worthy of so much more and a cast this good, I was hoping for something a little more believable. There’s no doubt that Showalter (whose formidable past filmography includes gems like The idea of you, the seriously ill one And Tammy Faye’s eyes) has the assets to achieve this, and for a moment focusing on the forgotten angle of the matriarch, Oh. What. Amusing. East Oh. Somehow. Amusing. Looking to juggle the carefully calibrated heart and over-the-top comedy of seasonal staples like Home alone, planes, trains and automobiles And National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, this one doesn’t quite capture the necessary tone. Is this a Christmas movie? A crazy comedy? A statement on the value of motherhood? You can see why Pfeiffer might have a good time doing this, and she does her best to bring awareness to some absurd situations that, in some parts, seem straight out of an old movie. I love Lucybut in the end, as they say, you have to believe it, and I had a hard time buying it.
Producers are Kate Churchill, Jordana Mollick, Jane Rosenthal, Berry Welsch and Showalter.
Title: Oh. What. Amusing.
Distributer: Main video
Release date: December 3, 2025 (broadcast)
Director: Michael Showalter
Screenwriters: Michael Showalter and Chandler Baker
Cast: Michelle Pfeiffer, Denis Leary, Felicity Jones, Jason Schwartzman, Chloe Grace Moretz, Eva Longoria, Dominic Sessa, Joan Chen, Danielle Brooks, Havana Rose Liu, Maude Apatow
Rating: PG-13
Operating time: 1h 47m
