tive=9325&creativeASIN=B003YZGWF0">Coopers' Christmas," which has to be not only an instant cult classic, but a new annual tradition. It's "Christmas Vacation" with the one thing it really lacked: a hard-R rating.
Starring "Daily Show" married couple Jason Jones (who co-wrote) and Samantha Bee, the film captures one crazy Christmas in 1985, all via a barely used VHS camcorder, which Gord (Jones) gives to his wife, Nancy (Bee). She's pissed he spent their Orlando vacation money on it, but their youngest son, Teddy (Dylan Everett), is enthused, so he tapes most of the day and night, sometimes unbeknownst to family members.
Each one, of course, is royally screwed-up. Big brother Marcus (Nick McKinlay) is "Star Wars"-obsessed, socially inept and suicidal; Uncle Nick (co-scripter Mike Beaver) is the film's Randy Quaid, if channeled through Danny McBride; teen niece Heather (Hayley Lochner) seems well on her way to a career as a stripper and/or prostitute; and elderly Nana (Jayne Eastwood) is perpetually sour-faced and would rather be dead.
And then the real problems start, when Gord's brother, Tim (Peter Keleghan), arrives. See, rumor has it that Tim may or may have not have slept with Nancy on her and Gord's wedding night. What is Christmas if not a time for dysfunction?
This Canadian comedy has plenty of it, refreshingly politically incorrect and raunchy. It is also, to my pleasant surprise, hysterical, as the labels don't necessarily go hand-in-hand. It's not all scatalogical humor, either, although even those instances manage to be funny. For example, after Marcus throws up Pine-Sol on the living room floor in a failed suicide attempt, Gord offers some fatherly advice: Clean it up. "It smells like egg salad and blue spruce." Dave Foley of "Kids in the Hall" has a small role, as do his, um, ornaments.
"Daily Show" devotees no doubt will want to see Jones and Bee in action, and both are more than willing to ugly themselves up for a laugh, but even if you don't watch the Comedy Central series, give this a chance. To borrow "Christmas Vacation"'s original tagline, yule crack up. "?Rod Lott
