Please don't spend money on this.

best movie i've ever seen.

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

This was a decent holiday/family comedy film following several story lines. Among them were scenes with Dianne Wiest and John Goodman, Marisa Tomei being arrested for shoplifting, Amanda Seyfried about to quit her job at a diner (much to the chagrin of her favorite customer), and one of the daughters picking up a soldier at the airport so she can pass him off as her "lover" for her family for the family at the dinner. The whole thing is narrated by Steve Martin-you might be surprised by who his character is. My favorite scenes are John Goodman messing up the lyrics to the Christmas scenes;Seyfried's scenes at the diner;the scenes in the police car;and the scenes between Olivia Wilde and the soldier. You might want to check this out if you need a good family holiday film.** 1/2 out of ****

Review: I wasn't a big fan of this movie because I got fed up with the constant moaning from the various characters, who really had nothing to moan about. Its based around a dysfunctional family, who are getting together for Christmas at the family home but the mother and father of the family, Sam Cooper (John Goodman) and Charlotte (Diane Keaton) are having problems with there marriage, because they have grown apart since the kids have left home. Charlotte's sister, Emma (Marisa Tomei) is jealous of her sisters huge family, and she is caught stealing a present for her, whilst shopping in a department store. Officer Williams (Anthony Mackie) has to chaperone her to the local police station but after bonding in the police car, he decides to take her to the family home. Meanwhile, Charlotte's daughter, Eleanor (Olivia Wilde) becomes friends with a soldier, Joe (Jake Lacy) whilst drinking at the airport bar, and she manages to convince him to act like he is her boyfriend, so her prying mother will stop going on about how disappointed she is with her life. Charlotte's father, Bucky (Alan Arkin) falls for a waitress, Ruby (Amanda Seyfried), who makes him feel young and has the same interests as her but he doesn't make it known to Ruby, mainly because of the age difference. He asks her to come to the family home for Christmas, as she has decided to leave her job to pursue her dream. Charlotte's son, Hank (Ed Helms) is going through a divorce to Angie (Alex Borstein), so he is constantly searching for a job to support his kids. With Sam's senile Auntie, Aunt Fishy (June Squibb) and the family dog Rags (voiced by Steve Martin), also around the family dinner table at Christmas, all hell breaks lose when they finally get together, and Bucky takes a turn for the worse, which eventually brings the family together. I really did try to get into this film but the storyline was weak and the characters wasn't that interesting. The script also became a bit annoying, especially between Keaton and Goodman who were arguing about complete rubbish, and the witty side of the movie wasn't that funny. With such an impressive cast, I was totally let down with this film but I'm sure that dysfunctional families will enjoy it. Disappointing! Round-Up: This movie was directed by Jessie Nelson, who also brought you I Am Sam starring Sean Penn and Corrina, Corrina with Ray Liotta. She also wrote and produced Fred Claus, Because I Said So, The Story of Us, Stepmom and Danny Collins. Although I didn't really find this movie that interesting, it did make a profit at the box office, mainly because it was released close to Christmas. I couldn't see were the budget went, and I personally think that the director didn't take full advantage of the cast but on a good note, it does have a sweet ending, which was quite predictable.Budget: $17million Worldwide Gross: $42.4millionI recommend this movie to people who are into their comedies, starring Steve Martin, Diane Keaton, John Goodman, Ed Helms, Alex Borstein, Amanda Seyfried, Alan Arkin, Dan Amboyer, Marisa Tomei, Olivia Wilde, Anthony Mackie and June Squibb. 2/10

Why does a holiday movie have to be so complex that you have to jot down notes to get a better understanding of what's being thrown at us? The worst case is that even after all that note taking there's not a single element that's even the most noteworthy. That's what I felt after watching "Love the Coopers", a film that delves into the lives of a dysfunctional family during the holiday season, but we end up lost in the shuffle of characters without proper introduction and the details about them are virtually non-existent. Director Jessie Nelson and screenwriter Steven Rogers plaster on underfed events juxtaposed with tiring levels of slapstick. However as the film unfolds we learn less about the characters and the film just settles on making them very unlikable.It's Christmastime at the Cooper clan and the parents San and Charlotte (John Goodman and Diane Keaton) are facing marital problems after 40 years of marriage. To contribute to their marital problems they still manage to bring up the subject of an incident that happened 30 years ago. Daughter Eleanor (Olivia Wilde) refuses to go home for the holidays and befriends an army soldier named Joe (Jake Lacey), but she uses him as a scapegoat to get her mother off her back. Son Hank (Ed Helms) has problems in his hand as he's going through a nasty divorce while also facing unemployment while he reminisces about his days working at a department store. Charlotte's much younger sister, Emma (Marisa Tomei) has been arrested on account of kleptomania while becoming very chatty with a cop (Anthony Mackie). Finally grandfather Bucky (Alan Arkin) is quite passionate with a diner waitress Ruby (Amanda Seyfried) and is heartbroken that she's quitting her job in search for other endevours.With an ensemble cast, we were hoping to get a decent introduction with the characters, but in the end, we never really know the characters and all the dramatic tensions just envelop without even a warning from its audience. It seems that each family member is used as a unintentional plot twist to keep us guessing which is all right for a mystery film, but not a film intended as a holiday themed film. For the next 100 minutes of this movie, we are forced to guess who's who and this warm, friendly holiday film is anything but warm or friendly. Even the script has us left in limbo like they describe Ruby as a Cooper, but she's a character outside the family. Much the same goes to Aunt Fishy (June Squibb) and the family dog Rags (Steve Martin) who's only purpose in this movie is to look cute and used as a decoy for an occasional fart joke to those who love potty humour."Love the Coopers" isn't hard to decipher, but the script is very opaque from the lacking character development to the forceful efforts in adding some fantasy towards the story as each character reflects upon their past triumphs and failures. Everything about this film feels randomized from unconventional characters getting more screen time to more prominent ones being shut out like an afterthought and to comic timing virtually non-existent. Sure Nelson provides the angst and uncertainties of the holiday season, to illustrate that the holidays does not always bring out the best in everyone, but in the end the film is very labouring and vague it feels like this film lasted longer than the duration that the editing was too rushed and way too obvious.It was the first time in 15 years that Nelson directed a film, the classic "I Am Sam", and I can the rust in her in this film. The acting was very awkward, the score was sloppily done by Nick Urata and the whole Christmas prone visuals can be quite painfully overdone. The overall feeling of the movie is more sugary than two dozen boxes of Christmas cookies and Steve Martin's voicing the inner thoughts of Rags the dog was completely wasted since he's a character of little thought let alone importance. The human emotions are meagre combined with scenes that feel more a sitcom than a movie and very limited family interaction, this holiday film is the definitive lump of cold black coal. In the end this movie has nothing to love about the Coopers and doesn't know what it wants to be or how to celebrate the holidays. This is one turkey you can stuff it.

When I started watching this, I was expecting – hoping – for something along the lines of "The Family Stone" which, I thought, was a great film; a perfect family drama with a touch of everything. But "Love the Coopers" was a major disappointment, and it unfortunately failed to deserve its awesome cast. The main problem with this film is that the idea had been done to death. To make it standout, it had to bring something new to the table. But it didn't; it was very poorly written, jumbled and choppy, painfully predictable, with mostly awkward romance, not enough humour, and basically a mess of a story. Since they were working with an overused idea, the producers and writers had to have the film add something that others with the same type of story didn't; and yet they failed on that. It was bland and boring and a huge waste of a good cast. It is also very slow-moving and lacked "punch". The humour is virtually nonexistent, and the romance is awkward and very cringe- worthy (with one exception; Lacy and Wilde's couple I liked very much). The characters are stereotypical and lacking depth (with the exception of Wilde's and Lacy's), and, frankly, I think they could've done without the teenage subplot; the acting was horrendous, it was ridiculously clichéd, and the kissing was, to be honest, absolutely repulsive – not to mention completely devoid of chemistry. So many family dramas end up portraying teenagers in the same cheesy way: sex-crazed, stereotypical, and with absolutely predictable scenarios and dialogue. Oh, and dialogue. Throughout the whole film it was terribly unoriginal, boring, and too infrequently scattered with smile-only one-liners. But yes, the cast is good. Diane Keaton, John Goodman, Ed Helms, Amanda Seyfried, Olivia Wilde, Alan Arkin and Marisa Tomei are all solid, but the real standouts for me were Tomei, Wilde and Keaton. Keaton is always consistent and good, and she plays the mother figure very well; although nowhere as good as her mother character in "The Family Stone" – which I can't seem to stop comparing this film to. The film is awfully cheesy and clichéd, and the only subplot I actually enjoyed was the romance between Wilde's character and Jake Lacy's; they had real chemistry, and despite the actual relationship being quite unrealistic and cheesy, it worked because they portrayed the characters well, their chemistry was on point, and they gave their characters real depth. Tomei was excellent; her conversations in the squad car opposite Anthony Mackie – who was very underused - gave the film its rare slices of humour, and she fitted her character perfectly. Alan Arkin is the grandfather of the family, but he's not brilliant or entirely convincing in the role, and his rather creepy relationship – which I guess is supposed to be friendly grandfather figure to quiet, reserved granddaughter - with Amanda Seyfried's character isn't as sweet or touching as it should be. Their scenes are uncomfortable and awkward and while Seyfried acts well, there wasn't enough to make me feel for them. Overall, if you're wanting to watch a feel-good, moving, brilliantly acted, hilarious family drama in the holidays – preferably Christmas – then watch "The Family Stone". Believe me, it won't disappoint. "Love the Coppers" most certainly will.