When four generations of the Cooper clan come together for their annual Christmas Eve celebration, a series of unexpected visitors and unlikely events turn the night upside down, leading them all toward a surprising rediscovery of family bonds and the spirit of the holiday.
It's part sitcom and part soap opera that pokes mild fun at the season but has a wide sentimental streak.
– Walter V. Addiego,
Hearst Newspapers,
13 Nov 2015
rotten:
Holiday entertainment that feels more like a horror movie.
– Scott Tobias,
NPR,
13 Nov 2015
rotten:
If you've been wishing and hoping for a movie in which June Squibb - here playing a dementia-riddled relative named Aunt Fishy - shows her underpants yet again, you'll love Love the Coopers. For the rest of us, to know them is to hate them.
– Stephanie Zacharek,
Village Voice,
13 Nov 2015
rotten:
Ticks off literally every home-for-the-holidays box -- in dutiful, uninspired fashion.
– Tom Huddleston,
Time Out,
13 Nov 2015
fresh:
It's just as often manipulative and contrived, but Jessie Nelson's film sells itself well. There's care in the details, and the characters often feel like actual people.