Title: Friendsgiving
MPAA Rating: Not Yet Rated
Director: Nicole Paone
Starring: Kat Dennings, Malin Åkerman, Aisha Tyler, Chelsea Peretti
Runtime: 1 hr 34 mins

What It Is: Molly and Abbey, along with their crew of close friends, some unwanted guests, and acquaintances, host a dysfunctional and chaotic Thanksgiving dinner.

What We Think: To put it into simple terms, Friendsgiving does not give a lot back. Sure, some of the performances are alright and it definitely had me laughing at some points. But it’s a movie that really prefers jokes over the story. After 30 minutes in, no conflict really moves the story forward, and yes- with each quirky character arriving at the party there’s one or two good jokes and scenes, but stringing those throughout an otherwise uninteresting hour and 34 mins didn’t keep me invested.

The performances as I mentioned are alright. Kat Dennings (who would be the most recognizable name out of the entire cast) doesn’t give it her all, and neither do any of the cast members for that matter (except for the postal service guy, I love that guy). It’s clear that for some scenes the actors were having a blast or improvising, and those scenes are the best in the movie. The scenes where fake smiles and forced lines take center stage are not as good.

I won’t really judge the movie on a technical level, because visual style sometimes isn’t the priority in comedy movies such as these, but I really wish they had put a little more effort into the cinematography. The shots just look bland at times- and again, I know that’s not a primary concern, but adding some contrast and some coloring wouldn’t have hurt at all.

However, what really bothers me is the soundtrack. If you’ve ever seen a YouTube vlog, the soundtrack plays like the background music for one of those. For some scenes where music is absolutely unnecessary, there’s a track that can only be described as YouTube background music faintly playing underneath the scene. It adds nothing and makes the movie feel like a YouTube miniseries. Even when characters are in plain conversation it plays, and there’s no benefit to it. It may not be a problem for some, but it really bugged me.

The movie is still fairly well written and I actually cried from laughter at one point. It’s safe to say that the movie is enjoyable at parts! But as I’ve said in previous reviews on movies like these, it really shouldn’t have been stretched out to 90 minutes. It would’ve worked out incredibly well as a short!

Our Grade: C-, Friendsgiving is a fun but at the same time fussy comedy. It has its moments, but ultimately I felt like it went on a little too long and was a bit undercooked in its presentation, just like a Thanksgiving dinner party.