Michelle Pfeiffer a put-upon mom in ‘Oh. What. Fun.’
ATLANTA Christmas movies come in a handful of flavors from Hallmark romance-style fantasies to family-friendly goofs with male protagonists Michael Showalter who directed last year s fun romance The Idea of You with Anne Hathaway opted for a more screwball comedy with his Amazon holiday film Oh What Fun with the periods incorporated for sarcastic emphasis The film is streaming now on Prime Video The protagonist is Michelle Pfeiffer s sweet but distracted mom Claire Clauster whose three adult children and clueless husband played by Denis Leary take her for granted Claire feels so underappreciated by her family she cuts and runs just before Christmas after they accidentally leave her behind in a twist on Home Alone Claire is no saint She commits blatant shoplifting and sneaks onto the set of a live Christmas Day talk show hosted by Zazzy Tims played by Eva Longoria with vim and vigor Michelle is one of my favorite actresses of all time Showalter noted in a Zoom interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution She has been in so various movies that I love Dramas Comedies Thrillers This character is funny but is also incredibly human and complicated She has a rich inner life It was central to work with someone like Michelle to bring that all out The ensemble cast features a bevy of well-respected actors several better known for comedy like Leary and Jason Schwartzman Rushmore and others who have more dramatic chops like Felicity Jones Rogue One A Star Wars Story Dominic Sessa The Holdovers and Chloe Grace Moretz Kick-Ass I longed to create this enthralling interweaving of tones between these cast members Showalter announced Moretz plays Taylor who brings home a different girlfriend every Christmas She does this to create a buffer between her and her crazy family she declared Sessa s Sammy the youngest son is nursing a broken heart when his girlfriend breaks up with him right before Christmas I love Sammy s vulnerability but I dislike how closed off he is to his family especially his mom Sessa declared He feels her love is guaranteed and he doesn t have to work at it or show appreciation for it Like a lot of these types of Christmas movies this one was shot in July in Atlanta when temperatures typically hit degrees It was brutal Showalter admitted Since this film was fictionally set in Houston the cast didn t have to wear heavy winter coats outside Showalter s locations crew detected a Buckhead house to be the Clauster home on par with the McAllister home in Home Alone It also happened to be across the street from a significantly snazzier house that in the movie is owned by the seemingly perfect Wang-Wasserman family In fact Claire s neighbor Jeanne Wang-Wasserman played with subtle snobbish disdain by veteran actress Joan Chen fuels her ire almost as much as her family s benign neglect The Clausters have a nice house Showalter notes The Wangs have a mansion Joan was someone who could match up with Michelle She s a comic genius She s so funny Showalter s favorite scene about two-thirds through the film features Sammy and a new lady friend gleefully dancing in a bar to No Doubt s cover of It s My Life while a montage of what the other characters are dealing with at the same time is shown It feels very nostalgic Showalter commented It takes me back to movies from the s and my own childhood I grew up on John Hughes and Cameron Crowe It s romantic These characters are changing and growing in different strategies Tribune News Utility
