You know holiday season is upon us when a Thanksgiving movie is coming to theaters this week.

Almost Christmas (2016) is an apt title because it is almost Christmas in the dateline and Thanksgiving this month begins the broader holiday season.

The premise of Almost Christmas is when a “dysfunctional” family gathers together for Thanksgiving. It’s the first time they have gathered since their mother died.

It is a comedy which is obvious from the premise. Dysfunctional implies problem and dysfunctional family implies problem family.

Just put a dysfunctional family coming together for a holiday and wham you have the formula for laughs. Just being “dysfunctional” is a typical comedy concoction. Laughs are generated from people’s failures and foibles.

Whether it’s successful at making people laugh, is another matter. It all depends on how it’s done and audience’s tastes in comedy.

Danny Glover

One actor in this film is Danny Glover, an actor I like.  And he plays comedy well.

In the Lethal Weapon franchise (1987-1998), he effectively generated laughs and amusement from being the “old guy” in a young guy-old guy partnership.

The buddy-buddy action comedy series starred Mel Gibson as Glover’s partner (Gibson has directed Hacksaw Ridge and starred in action film Blood Father this year).

Glover has presence in comedy and drama. He is no slouch when it comes to playing comedy with a string of featured roles in the genre.

Gatherings

Family gatherings are often used in comedy in a domestic setting, but also in weddings and funerals.

The funniest scenarios are when dysfunctional families get together at funerals or weddings—because the setting for this problem family is a funeral or a wedding. This acerbates the dynamics in a dysfunctional family. In a funeral a person has died and in a wedding the people are happy.

Two things can happen in moviedom when a dysfunctional family gathers.  Either they rail each other and rub each other up the wrong way all the time, or they find ways of dealing with their problems. In the latter sense, a family gathering is about the possibilities of working through their problems.