To me, this movie is perfection.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

The reason I give this two stars is because the acting and dialog are actually quite good in spots. However, the majority of the movie falls flat. The connection between characters feels flat and some of it is over the top hokey, especially the two girls and stripper Santa.The movie builds up to be something profound but falls way short of delivery. You get the feel that if you keep watching it will eventually be worth the effort but it never comes. There is a dull climax and the resolutions are blah! As part of the audience there never was a connection to any of the characters even though I wanted that to be the case.I have to agree with others when they say it is a waste of time.

Patrick Stewart is a diverse and lovable actor, one that can fit any role and be endearing to audience. The first flaw of many this movie has is secluding him form the rest of cast and makes him recites dull version of A Christmas Carol. The other plots are different groups of similarly pretentious characters trying to be humorous and delivering some warm message, all of which fail to do so.This is several short stories woven together with one underlying theme; finding solace in unfavorable situation of confined in elevator. There are so many noises and gibberish, it just doesn't feel authentic in any way. Most of these characters speak and do things no ordinary person would even consider normal. Perhaps the movie would like audience to suspense judgement to these supposed colorful characters, but they are simply revolting.Maybe only one or two of them are decent, and that's already an overstatement considering they rely so heavily on terrible script. If this is an attempt to build any connection then it's a misguided one. The photographer and random lady subplot is superbly awful, almost rude even. They are just silly in an attempt for mild romance which eventually ends up creepy and inauthentic.There is actually a good cast here, they are just trapped in situation or company no one would like to see, let alone experience. The orchestra assembly stuck in one elevator is just too much, too crude and with no real focus. Jon Heder is pretty good, although he must content with horrible boss cliché. The one elevator that has some kind of heart is the hospital one, it sometimes looks real enough, however it's still lacking depth to present a drama of faith.With so many angles and good cast, it's actually surprising that every single one of them is flawed. Having insipid script and appalling characters, it's better to be stuck on an elevator in real life than trapped watching this.

I really enjoyed this film. It was a family film that maintained a really cool independent film style. It seems to have had a smaller budget, but they really went for it and got everything out of it. Especially when it came to the actors. Man what a cast! I love Sir Patrick as much as the next guy, but I got to say Steven John Shepherd was a revelation. Man can he act. I started looking up some of the cast I didn't recognize and realized that many of them were British. Fooled me. I watched it a second time knowing this and was able to capture a few slip-ups, but for the most part they were really convincing as Americans. This film felt so comfortable with itself. It never tried to be anything it is not. I think that is the biggest take away I got from it. Be what we are. We can see the characters embrace themselves and we can also see the film embrace itself. Now I just hope more people see the film and embrace it as I have, because I sure did love it!

I like movies with interesting characters and witty dialogue that carries a message. This movie gave me all three. Some characters were charming, others quirky, and a few carried scars or burdens that seemed to lurk below the surface of their social mask. It showcased humanity within the context of comedy and left me pondering about some of the characters even after the movie was over. I love the idea that many of our lives overlap without even knowing, and that our impact on other people makes a difference for good or bad. Adding to the ambiance of the film is the context of everything taking place on Christmas Eve, which elevated the charm and sentimentality. Definitely worth the watch!