Oh. What. Fun. might be too confident a title for a Christmas movie that on the one hand is damned lucky to have lured the great Michelle Pfeiffer to be its star, but on the other hand loses the magic of the season by some truly credibility-challenging plotting decisions in its second half. But let’s cover the positive aspects first. That would be Pfeiffer.

The star, who has delivered time and time again in such films as The Fabulous Baker Boys, French Exit, Up Close and Personal, One Fine Day, Dangerous Liaisons, Love Field and countless others, is one of my all-time faves. In fact, I just rewatched Love Field the other night and I can tell you she got robbed of the Best Actress Oscar for that one. It really holds up. And in Oh. What. Fun. she has all the heart and smarts you would expect of someone with that kind of filmography. It is just a shame the material(the script is by director Michael Showalter and Chandler Baker based on his short story) she is handed here isn’t on the same high level as her talents.

As Claire Clauster, mother of a dysfuntional clan of three grown kids who is now longing for a little attention and praise on her own, Pfeiffer, complete with Texas accent, starts out with a bang confronting a woman in a car loaded with obnoxious kids in the back seat reading them the riot act on how to behave to their mother. It tells us exactly what we need to know about Claire who has given her all to her family and generally is taken for granted, especially at Christmas time, her favorite time of year and one she spends months preparing to make it just right. Does she get the credit a mom deserves? Of course not, but like all moms doing what she has always done without the glory is a given. What she really would love is if one of her kids would submit a letter singing her virtues for the Holiday Mom of the Year contest on her favorite daytime talk program, the Zazzy Tims Show. Sadly neither oldest daughter Channing (Felicity Jones), middle child Taylor (Chloe Grace Moretz), or youngest lovelorn son Sammy (Dominic Sessa) would even think of it even though she has dropped them more than one hint.

They all have moved on with their own lives in their own ways. Channing is married to Doug (Jason Schwartzman) with her own brood to worry about, Taylor is forever bringing a new partner to family celebrations so who can keep up with her, and Sammy has been dumped by girlfriend Mae-Bell (Maude Apatow) and now longs for pretty Lizzie Wang (Havana Rose Liu) who lives across the street where hermother Jean (Joan Chen) seems to be loved and appreciated as the perfect mom. Even in exchanging their annual gifts Jean gets the upper hand on Claire, further frustrating this frustrated matriarch of the Clauster clan. Even loving husband Nick doesn’t seem to have a clue here about his wife’s sadness. But it is Christmas , and the show must go on.

The real problem arises when the entire family heads out the door to their traditional Christmas Eve outing to the big local Christmas production and somehow didn’t notice Claire got accidentally left behind. Let the zaniness begin as Claire, a woman on the verge, decides she is going to do something for herself and – SPOILER ALERT – this is where Oh. What. Fun. goes south – literally and figuratively.

Claire takes off in her car on a wacky road trip to – wait for it – Hollywood in order to make her way unannounced on to the Zazzy Tims Show (Eva Longoria ably plays the host), and to become one of the winning Holiday Moms (who apparently aren’t spending Christmas with the family but rather with Zazzy). Driving all day into the night from Texas no less, and with crippling complications along the way (spending the night with stranger Danielle Brooks in a motel where her car is towed is one of them), she somehow shows up at the studio gates Christmas morning just in time for the live taping (doesn’t this show know they could have pre-taped?) and manages to get on the lot. It gets crazier from there.

This part of this holiday confection just doesn’t seem to live in reality because Claire is not some wacky sitcom crazy person, she is Michelle Friggin’ Pfeiffer, a star far too intelligent to make us believe she is that obsessed with a silly, and in this day and age rather dated title on a daytime talk show. Although the film aims to spotlight the often thankless role of the family matriarch, Claire is one step above the stereotype of a 50’s housewife and mother, only this ain’t the 50’s anymore.

Okay it’s silly to get too worked up over just another streaming Christmas movie, but with a star worthy of so much more, and a cast this good, I hoped for something a little more credible. No doubt Showalter (whose terrific past filmography includes gems like The Idea Of You, The Big Sick, and The Eyes Of Tammy Faye) has the chops to pull this off, and for a while focusing on the forgotten matriarch angle, Oh. What. Fun. is Oh. Kinda. Fun. Looking to juggle the carefully calibrated heart and over-the -top comedy of seasonal staples like Home Alone, Planes, Trains & Automobiles, and National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, this one doesn’t quite catch the tone needed. Is it a Christmas movie? A screwball comedy? A statement on the value of motherhood? You can see why Pfeiffer might have a good time doing this, and she does her best to bring sensibility to some non-sensical situations that in some parts look right out of an old I Love Lucy, but in the end, as they say, you gotta believe, and I had a hard time buying it.

Producers are Kate Churchill, Jordana Mollick, Jane Rosenthal, Berry Welsch, and Showalter.

Title: Oh. What. Fun.

Distributor: Amazon Prime

Release Date: December 3, 2025 (Streaming)

Director: MIchael Showalter

Screenplay: Michael Showalter and Chandler Baker

Cast: Michelle Pfeiffer, Denis Leary, Felicity Jones, Jason Schwartzman, Chloe Grace Moretz, Eva Longoria, Dominic Sessa, Joan Chen, Danielle Brooks, Havana Rose Liu, Maude Apatow

Rating: PG13

Running Time: 1 hour and 47 minutes