Jeri Jacquin

Currently in selected theatres and major digital platforms and coming to DVD soon from writer/director Peter Chelsom, Tinker Lindsay and Shout! Studios comes the holiday film A SUDDEN CASE OF CHRISTMAS.

Lawrence (Danny DeVito) owns a quaint hotel in the Dolomite Mountains in Italy and every year at Christmas the family visits. Now, it is summer and daughter Abbie (Lucy DeVito), husband Jacob (Wilmer Valderrama) and daughter Claire (Antonella Rose) are making a special mid-year trip. Lawrence believes he knows the reason why but is totally thrown when Abbie and Jacob explain that his reason couldn’t be more wrong. They couple has decided to separate and want Lawrence to break it to Claire.

When it comes out, Claire is frantic and spends some time alone. She then decides that if this is to be the families will be together for Christmas, then Christmas must come in August. Claire asks grandpa Lawrence to call her other grandparents, Rose (Andie MacDowell) and Mark (Jose Zuniga) to join them. All the while Lawrence is preparing the hotel for the “holiday” while still attending guests like Claudia (Valeria Cavalli). 

Immediately Claire goes into high gear making a documentary of their summer holiday. When the grandparents arrive, Walter is beside himself to learn that Claudia is someone he knows. Looking to Lawrence for help, he becomes almost invisible and Rose goes on having fun where she can find it. Meeting Claudia, the two women hit it off and become fast friends over time spent at archery with the handsome Don Michele (Francesco Salvi).

Just when Claire thought things were going to be fun, everything turns on its head and only love can save it all.

DeVito as Lawrence is a grandfather who would do anything to help the granddaughter he loves so dearly. Realizing that the problems with her parents are affecting her, when Claire comes to him with the Christmas idea, he is immediately on it. He also deals with hotels guests, slightly different employees and a priest that is in the middle of it all. I have always loved DeVito and the characters he plays and, in this film, he gives us the grandfather who starts to question his own reasons for staying.

Rose as Claire is a young girl preparing herself for what her parents are attempting to do and relies heavily on her doting grandfather. She is a charming young lady who runs the gambit of emotions of family, love, traditions and how to understand the craziness of the adults around her. Lucy DeVito as Abbie is a mother who has been working very hard in a job that totally stresses her out. In the process of that, she has disconnected somehow with her family and husband. Stressing out about it all is taking a toll and DeVito portrays it until she realizes what has happened.

MacDowell as Rose is a woman struggling to decide how she wants to spend her time now that she is retired. Feeling like she is missing a life connection, she feels it even more when she hears the story of her new friend. MacDowell is so charming in this role and I love every bit of it. Cavalli as Claudia is a woman who once grieved for her husband and in one night found something that has carried her year after year back to the hotel. This time she found a friend in Rose. Cavalli just floats through the film with her smile and it is wonderful.

Valderrama as Jacob wants so much to be a good father but is dealing with his own struggles after losing his job. Trying to discover where he fits in to life, it also affects his relationship with wife Abbie and he doesn’t know how to fix it. Zuniga as Mark is a man who is hiding from his mistake in a rather humiliating way. Unable to face it, he’d rather hide under the cover until the Christmas week has passed. Salvi as Don Michele is the suave eye-candy for both Rose and Claudia and it is hilarious (and yes, he is handsome!).

Other cast include Antonella Slavucci as Delfina, Tommaso Sacco as Aldo, Kate Muda as Johanna, Matteo Miraglia as Niccolo, Adrian Dunbar as Otto, Treyston Braine as Walter, Luca Bagnoli as Elicotterista and Roderick Hill as Phil.

SHOUT! Studios has grown into a tremendous multi-platform media company. Releasing new animated features such as the exquisite Long Way North, and the epic fantasy Beauty and The Beast. Also, their own original horror film, Fender Bender gives fans a good scare. For more of what SHOUT has to offer please visit www.shoutfactory.com.

A SUDDEN CASE OF CHRISTMAS is a wonderful holiday film set in the beauty and grandeur of Italy. The cast bring it all alive in such a way that families watching the film will forget they are in another country. That’s because the story is all about family and the constant changes, friends who will do anything for each other and a holiday that brings everyone together.

This is a creative and fun holiday film to start off the season. There is nothing better than being reminded that it isn’t about the items we get for Christmas. Instead, it is about the people in our lives that are so very important to us that we want to be close to, gather to celebrate traditions and make the simplest effort to let everyone know they are love. Let the holiday cheer begin!

In the end – as long as there is love there is Christmas!

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