28
Metascore
11 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 63New York PostKyle SmithNew York PostKyle SmithThe film’s mix of elements of “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” and “Bad Santa” is amusing.
- 40The New York TimesBen KenigsbergThe New York TimesBen KenigsbergIt’s a testament to Williams’s energy that even in an unfortunate part as Virgil, an angry, alcoholic dad, he comes across as the most vivid member of the cast.
- 38RogerEbert.comMatt Zoller SeitzRogerEbert.comMatt Zoller SeitzThere are a few nice moments of performance and filmmaking (including the elaborately choreographed final shot), but not enough to redeem a film that seems to flinch from the harsh truths it was presumably created to address.
- 38Slant MagazineNick PriggeSlant MagazineNick PriggeWhereas "Bad Santa" was nastier and riskier, as well as more mischievously winsome, A Merry Friggin' Christmas is as curiously timid as it is morally dubious.
- 33The A.V. ClubJesse HassengerThe A.V. ClubJesse HassengerWilliams made some terrible movies, but he never phoned them in. On both counts, this one’s no exception.
- 30The DissolveNathan RabinThe DissolveNathan RabinA Yuletide comedy so slight, it sometimes feels like a bonus-sized Christmas episode for a sitcom that never should have been green-lit in the first place.
- 30The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckThe Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckRepresenting one of Robin Williams' last films, A Merry Friggin' Christmas lives up to its bah, humbug title. Not only because it's terrible, although it is, but rather because one desperately hoped that the beloved actor would go out on a high note.
- 30VarietyGeoff BerkshireVarietyGeoff BerkshireNeither warm and fuzzy in the best holiday movie traditions, nor edgy and irreverent a la “Bad Santa” (coincidentally also co-starring Graham, to better effect), it’s something of a mystery what audience A Merry Friggin’ Christmas intends to serve.
- 20New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanNew York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanThe atonal script is credited to first-timer Michael Brown, but there’s still no explaining Shapeero’s lump-of-coal debut.
- 14TheWrapAlonso DuraldeTheWrapAlonso DuraldeIn attempting to work through its family issues, it arrives at catharses that are contrived and unearned, and in attempting to find humor in this pungent situation, it fails to deliver laughs.