CHRISTMAS, AGAIN – The Review

Selling Christmas trees is one of those seasonal jobs, much like setting up a fireworks stand for the Fourth of July or a pumpkin patch around Halloween, that is done by people in transition.  Christmas tree selling is not a life time career option, a temporary job until something else comes along.

Noel (Kentucker Audley) is on his fifth year selling Christmas trees on a lot in the middle of New York City, despite the time of year it does not look like a cheerful job.  Noel actually lives on the lot in a tiny camper, he has to use the local YMCA to get a shower, his shift is all night long, for 12 hours, sitting outside, sometimes in freezing rain, trying to stay awake.

There is a day shift, a young man and his girl friend, they are not the most reliable people but they do run the stand while Noel tries to get some sleep in the middle of a busy metropolitan area with all the traffic noise that comes with it. Dude, I would so cover those windows and keep the sun out!

Noel used to have a girl friend that helped him run the stand, repeat customers ask about her, we never find out what happened exactly but Noel is obviously lonely and unhappy and exhausted most of the time.

We see all the work day routine that goes into selling Christmas trees, showing the trees to customers, wrapping them so they can be transported, delivering them and setting them up for customers.  Since it is New York a lot of the customers are very picky about the trees, the wreaths, the lights, they take their time picking out a tree while Noel shivers in the cold.

One night Noel finds a young woman passed out on a bus stop bench, a homeless man sitting next to her has no idea who she is or how she got there.  Noel puts her in the camper, gets gum out of her hair, and retrieves her cell phone from the homeless man.  She wakes up and leaves while Noel is outside with a customer.  This is Robin (Hannah Gross), she will return to talk with Noel and try to figure out how she ended up on the bench, passed out.

She will return again with a home baked pie for Noel.  Her boyfriend shows up later, first as a customer, he gets suspicious seeing the pie in Noel’s tiny camper, returns and causes trouble.   Robin returns and accompanies Noel on Christmas Eve as he delivers and sets up a couple of trees for customers.   They spend the night together but not much happens.

And that is about it, but describing the “action” in CHRISTMAS, AGAIN doesn’t begin to tell how powerful,  how moving this movie really is.  This is the kind of character study that used to be made regularly in the 1970s.  Kentucker Audley is on camera for almost the whole running time, we see everything through his eyes and we see exactly what he is thinking and how he is feeling, every minute.  The performance is  spot on and powerful.  And there is very little dialog, Audley tells us everything with looks, gestures, body language.  I have never seen this actor before but I sincerely hope he gets to work regularly after this film.  And Hannah Gross matches him, scene for scene.

Movies about loneliness are hard to do without getting maudlin. One of the great science fiction writers, Theodore Sturgeon, once said that loneliness is hard to write about because we are all experts at it.

CHRISTMAS, AGAIN nails it, we feel for Noel every step of the way.  A big event for him is getting a sandwich and an energy drink at an all night quick mart.  He has an Advent calendar that has pills for each day instead of candy.  We never find out what the pills are but he does nod off on the job after taking two instead of one, later he flushes the remaining pills and seems to be feeling better.

He misses his girlfriend who used to keep him company at the tree stand and eyeballs every woman who comes to look at trees.  We hold our breath hoping that he and Robin might make a go of it.  Both are lonely, damaged people trying to find some hope and cheer and happiness on what many have called the worst night of the year to be alone, Christmas Eve.

I do not like to give out spoilers so I will just say the ending is heartbreaking, and exhilarating, at the same time.  We come in alone and we go out alone and in between we try our best to get by and, hopefully, help each other instead of hurting.

CHRISTMAS, AGAIN is a masterpiece.

This time of year always brings out the big Christmas movies, Christmas Carol (pick your favorite version), It’s a Wonderful Life, National Lampoons Christmas Vacation, Earnest Saves Christmas.

Add CHRISTMAS, AGAIN to that list, especially if you want to feel good about life and the holidays.

And a Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

And, the soundtrack is incredible, I want the CD!

5 Out Of 5 Stars

FACTORY 25 will release CHRISTMAS, AGAIN at the MoMA in New York (and exclusive SVOD on Fandor) on Thursday, December 3rd, and at the Laemmle Noho 7 in  Los Angeles on Friday, December 11th.
Also available on iTunes and select digital / cable platforms