All is Bright (2013)

In recent years, there have been more and more unhappy Christmas related movies.  The holidays bring out the best and the worst in people and sometimes it helps to watch a not so happy holiday movie.  This year’s option is All is Bright.

The film is a dark comedy about a recently paroled man named Dennis (Paul Giamatti) who has a lot of trouble trying to find a job because of the poor economy and the fact that he just got out of jail.  Dennis takes a job selling Christmas trees with his old friend Rene (Paul Rudd) and the Christmas season proves to not be so bright.

The film is directed by Phil Morrison and the rest of the noteworthy cast includes Sally Hawkins, Amy Landecker, Tatyana Richaud, Colman Domingo, Nikki M. James, and Morgan Spector.

Giamatti usually does not disappoint, but Rudd can be questionable.  Regardless, this film looks like it will have some good moments of laughter.  It definitely doesn’t look like your average Christmas movie.

The movie was released in select theatres on 10/4/13 and has been on demand since 9/10/13.

So, why am I telling you about this movie now?  I am telling you about this now because I have a feeling that this will be one film that slips through the cracks.  Most people who actually see this movie will probably be watching it on DVD.  It seems to me like it was released too early.  I think that it might have done okay in theatres if they had released it in November and done a better job marketing it.

I have noticed a lot more movies this year that have had trouble making it to wide release.  Is direct to DVD or on demand the way of the future?  I hope not.  It would be nice to have a lot of options of movies to see in theatres, instead of simply the films that should make money for production companies.  There were so many big blockbuster films that flopped this year and that is hurting the movie business more than people realize.  I blame the lack of originality and sequel overdose for this problem.