Simply A Masterpiece

Fantastic!

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Sharp-eared viewers who catch Aubrey Plaza (as Grumpy Cat) introduce Meghan Charpentier's white-trash-named and spelled "Chrystal" as "part of the last generation on a dying planet" understand they are in for a seditious battering of all things bright and beautiful. Grumpy Cat's venom spews equally over Chrystal, Christmas, modern American mall culture, parenting, and all the tenants of Lifetime movies. How this thing finagled a "G" rating is a thing of mystery if no other reason than a fantasy sequence when Grumpy is tied down and gassed to death. The movie doesn't break as much as just ignores the fourth wall with Grumpy returning from commercial breaks expressing disbelief that the audience is still watching and wonder why you don't do something more productive with your limited lifespan. When the plot slows, bubbles with Grumpy in them appear to lampoon the current action or to just talk about something more interesting. Evan Todd and Isaac Haig as the baddies (although everyone comes across as fairly useless) trade quips worth of a Tarantino film with out the sickening pretense. Daniel Roebuck as super creepy mall guard "George" brings a discomforting weirdness particularly when he hits on young, female mall workers. If it all sounds like the satire of the standard Lifetime Christmas movie went a little overboard then you got that right. In short, if you like your chocolate Santa's and your comedies dark, this is a must see (keep the kids away from it).

As many reviewers point out, this film obliterates the fourth wall. Its a schtick to try and make the script cheeky and maybe edgy and it ends up being bizarre, cheesy, campy, awful...and suddenly the credits rolled and I thought...oh no, that was so bad...that it was good. Honestly, the script is dreadful...like atrocious and the acting is possibly even worse (for the most part) but then you have the fact that the dialogue is so painful that it ends up being funny, that Grumpy Cat is so completely misused that it ends up making you laugh, the film is satirical, offensive, dumb and I can't say worse things about it because I watched it and after I got over the initial "how bad it was", I found myself enjoying the style. Of course "Grumpy Cat" keeps making constant references to how bad the film is and you can't argue with her so you have to sit back and enjoy how bad it is. The film is rated G which I'm not fond of. It was far too dark to be "for everyone" or even for families. Sure it wasn't in your face inappropriate but when Grumpy Cat is having a nightmare about being thrown into the street and eventually gassed to death...that's a bit dark for youngsters. She also makes mention of being put to sleep a few times. There is a small moral message here about friendship and saving Christmas but it gets buried in sarcasm and satire.Grumpy Cat is essentially an even more negative version of Garfield. Garfield's voice was legendary and Bill Murray actually nailed it in the film versions. I am not a big Aubrey Plaza fan, I think she's over-hyped for her deadpan, boring humour but I actually thought she might do a decent job with voicing Grumpy Cat (who is apparently played by THEE Grumpy Cat "Tardar Sauce") Plaza is okay at best. I feel like she just doesn't nail the voice over thing and the one-liners don't work. I think a voice actor with more experience could have made Grumpy Cat hilarious! Plaza missed an opportunity here but it is a Lifetime movie and the rest of it is terrible so Plaza fits in okay. Now that she's done it once, if they do another one (God help me I'd watch it too) I'd want Plaza to do it again. A lot of IMDb reviewers really trash the performance of Megan Charpentier as the young heroine but I actually think she did really well. I mean you can only be so good in a film this bad but she plays her role well and she's charismatic and I think kids will enjoy her. Legendary character actor Daniel Roebuck, Evan Todd and Isaac Haig are our buffoonish villains (think Pesci and Stern in Home Alone only not funny at all or talented in any way.) They are really, really awful but I don't blame the actors as much as the part written for them. Not to be outdone, one of the "good guys" played by David Lewis is incredibly badly written too.I swear that as bad as this is, many of you will finish this thinking...holy crap that was entertaining. I laughed when I didn't want to, I shook my head more times than I can count and I winced at the terrible dialogue and I enjoyed it so I guess I'm crazy. I think I would even watch it again it was so bad-good. Tim Hill directs and co-writes and Hill comes from Spongebob Squarepants which I never understood the popularity of so maybe he has a style of making things so terrible that people love it. The idea behind Grumpy Cat and having a Christmas movie is actually full of potential and it might have made more sense animated but it is what it is and I want to tell you how much I hated it but I loved every awful minute of it. Its the worst Christmas movie I've seen this year and its just the way Grumpy Cat would have it so go watch it...or don't...I don't care and neither does she. 6/10

The one thing that redeems this movie pretty well is that they not only penetrate the fourth wall but they utterly demolish and incinerate it. Most of the movie is Grumpy Cat addressing the viewer directly.9/10 of the movie is references to the Grumpy Cat media and her tschotske empire of branded crap. So they even play with crass materialism. They reference "memes" in the movie. The hipster's darling Aubrey Plaza is totally in her element playing the voice of a sarcastic, dismissive cat. Pretty much April from Parks and Recreation channeled through a cat.This movie would actually be pretty good to put a recording of in a time capsule. In 100 years it would be a significant document of internet culture of the present day.

"Grumpy Cat" became a social media star well before this "Lifetime" movie aired. The cat has coloring and features which give it a perpetually grumpy look. Like celebrities who presently become famous for looking sexy (and bad behavior), Grumpy became famous for looking grumpy. Grumpy is more popular than "Toonces" (the cat who could drive a car), but probably won't overtake "Felix". By the time "Grumpy Cat's Worst Christmas Ever" premiered, the frequently photographed cat had already run her course. Facebook hardly noticed the movie. Twitter flickered. Herein, we find Grumpy lives in a mall pet store. Great setting. The cat is much cuter in live action. She's one smart kitty, but never picked for adoption due to her grumpiness...You would pick golden blonde-haired Megan Charpentier (as Crystal) as easily the cutest and most popular 12-year-old in her class. As a bonus, she's smart and friendly. Yet, inexplicably, Miss Charpentier doesn't have any friends. Thanks to Russell Peters and the spirit of Christmas, she wishes for a friend and is given the ability to understand Grumpy's language. They become comrades and help solve a dog-napping mall crime. The wise-cracking cat isn't very helpful, leaving Charpentier to do most of the heavy lifting. "SpongeBob" writer Tim Hill works well with the cast, allowing Isaac Haig and Evan Todd to get the most out of their characters. The feline star is voiced by Aubrey Plaza, who has a playfulness that's memorable while the movie isn't.Grumpy Cat's Worst Christmas Ever (11/29/14) Tim Hill ~ Megan Charpentier, Aubrey Plaza, Isaac Haig, Evan Todd