All Is Brigth poster

All Is Bright

Two French Canadian ne’er-do-wells travel to New York City with a scheme to get rich quick selling Christmas trees. Easygoing charmer Rene (Paul Rudd) clashes with misanthropic ex-con Dennis (Paul Giamatti), whose wife Rene just stole. Still, this odd couple must make an honest go of it in this buddy comedy

.5 of 5

Two immediate problems with that summary are the words “buddy” and “comedy”, as this mess of a movie contains neither.

I had high hopes, after all All Is Bright is a Christmas movie. It stars Paul Giamatti and Paul Rudd, with an assist from Sally Hawkins, all generally reliable performers. The acting is…fine. In Giamatti’s case, it is quite good. Unfortunately, the material is bad. The story is slow & depressing and every time you think there might a bright spot (or even just a little relief from the gloom) you end up sorely disappointed. Definitely not one for your “feel good” movie list.

Giving it half a point for Giamatti’s presence, Rudd’s brown tooth, and Sally Hawkins Russian accent, which is almost as adorable as her.


Rotten Tomatoes: Critics 49%; Audience 23%
Vox AZ

Comedy, drama
2020/12/27