Is mid-November too early to be watching a Christmas movie? If you don’t think so, please keep reading this review of “A Very Merry Breakup” (TriBeCa Films).
Elizabeth Guest wrote, directed, and stars as the seriously unlikeable lead character, Lydia. A recovering love addict and accountant, Lydia desperately needs her romantic history audited.
During the Christmas season in New York, Lydia is having a romantic dinner with her boyfriend Tim (Andrew Leeds), whom she has been dating for six months. He gets down on one knee and proposes to her, and she accepts. However, following a meltdown about Christmas, she breaks up with him.
Lydia heads home to Los Angeles to spend the holidays with her four parents. Yes, you read that right. Lydia’s father Rick (Nicholas Guest, Elizabeth’s father) divorced her therapist mother Stella (Pamela Guest, Elizabeth’s mother), came out as gay and has been with Fred (Ed Begley, Jr.) for 20 years. Fred, his ex-wife Cheryl (Rachelle Carson-Begley, Ed’s wife), Rick, and Stella all live together in one house.
As it turns out, the four parents aren’t much help to Lydia. This is especially the case for Fred who suspects that Rick is being unfaithful. Additionally, while in L.A. Lydia runs into her ex-boyfriend James (Timm Sharp) at a Love Addicts meeting, and they rekindle their relationship. Her gay bestie and fellow love addict Ryan (Craig Bullock) attempts to help her with the mess she’s created, but alas he’s of no use.
Meanwhile, the parents hatch a scheme to find Lydia a boyfriend in California so that she’ll stay nearby. Using Fred and Rick’s anniversary party on New Year’s Eve as a ruse, the parents invite several single men to attend in the hopes that Lydia will fall in love with one and stay on the West Coast. Further complicating matters is the unexpected arrival of Tim from New York on the day of the party. He wants to make amends with Lydia who has begun seeing James again.
As if the queer, elderly dads concept isn’t condescending enough, having Ryan assist one of Lydia’s suitors realize that he’s gay is simply too much, girlfriend! Guest, who is the niece of Christopher Guest, should have studied her uncle’s films closer in order to create humorous, yet inoffensive, queer characters. Apologies for being a Scrooge, but simply put, “A Very Merry Breakup” crumbles. If you really want to watch a perfect indie Christmas movie, your time would be better spent seeing Jay Duplass’ funny and touching 2025 flick “The Baltimorons.”
Rating: D
