As zany characters go, this was filled to the brim! An all-star cast includes Steve Martin displaying his talent at both underplay and physical humor, and the late, beloved Madeleine Kahn at her operatic best reminiscent of her great "Young Frankenstein". I am a fan of male actors in drag, and I truly have a new respect for Liev Scheiber as Christine. He is sweet, strong and unrecognizable in the role. Outstanding! Steven Wright and Gary Shandling do a couple of unforgettable short appearances, and Juliette Lewis is the only actress who could have been as effectively annoying against Anthony Paglia's madness. Definitely worth seeing at Christmas!

We saw this in the theater nearly 20 years ago. Finally found on tape, then DVD. This is one that is a must see EVERY year. Often quoted by ourselves and many of our kids. "I love grape jelly...it's a work in progress; it may never be finished." All of our kids have a copy of their own, thanks to us -the parents! Honestly, I don't know what else I can say. It is just one of the funniest shows we have ever seen. Yes, it may seem filled with dark humor, but the humor we find in it is just plain funny! Rita Wilson is one of my favorites in this one. Gracie can be a bit loud and over the top, but that's the character she plays, so maybe it needs to be that way. Steve Martin is one of our favorite actors, so that is what drew us to this movie in the first place. His timing, facial expressions and delivery are amazing as usual. I recommend this to anyone when they ask me to suggest a movie (Christmas or otherwise).

This may be the worse Christmas movie ever made. Plot was really bad, so the brilliant cast had no where to go but up, but really couldn't overcome the story. It is really amazing that according to IMDb the budget of $15M was spent on this rather than helping the homeless. Steve Martin is a name draw that you would expect to have at least a passable script to accept. Jon Stewart of the Daily Show is in this along with Parker Posey, but they have bit roles and I assume it was before either of them were known. We have a pile of Christmas movies that we reserve every year for getting together with family, and hoped that maybe this would be an addition to that. I think the verdict is clear, forget it.

I hate to say it, but this is a Steve Martin superdud. I saw it in the theater amidst a sparse crowd, none of whom was laughing either. I've seen it in video stores since then, Steve Martin all over the cover. That makes sense because he's the only possible selling point; nobody you know is likely to recommend you watch it. Come to think of it, that's why I went to see it. I like most of Martin's stuff.The first few minutes (poking fun at SoCal Christmas) was the funniest part of the film...mildly funny. From there it just got worse -- incoherent, disjointed, at times just disturbing. It's one of the few movies I walked out of halfway through.Go ahead and watch this flick if: You've seen every other movie ever made and need to complete your record. You like Steve Martin so much that can't recognize when one of his movies sucks. Uhh...I can't think of another reason.