The inmates are running the asylum in this black comedy set on Christmas Eve dealing with employees of a suicide hotline who are facing eviction and the assorted nuts who come in and out of their establishment. Steve Martin, the head of the hotline center, is great on the phone but terrible in person, and his girlfriend, Rita Wilson, suffers from incredible insecurities. There's the grouchy Madeline Kahn, the boyish Adam Sandler (who carries around a ukulele and has the habit of breaking into songs he makes up in his head based on things the others say), the pregnant Juliette Lewis, her hot tempered boyfriend (Anthony LaPaglia) and the lonely transgendered Liev Schreiber who shows up looking like Kiss of the Spider Woman.
Evicting landlord Gary Shandling is shot, Kahn gets stuck in a broken elevator, has to use the bathroom with an audience, gets knocked out by a slamming door, and finds surprising romance suddenly on the beach, while Wilson's makeover promises to help Martin up more to her and Schreiber gets to tango with Martin. The background music has an eclectic mix of a variety of Christmas tunes, everything from the Drifter's version of "White Christmas" to cats and dogs harmonizing together. As far as the story is concerned, there's really not much to it, but the characters are interesting, and the script is big hearted and often touching. Everybody gets the chance to shine, but for me, the standouts are Kahn and Sandler.
Evicting landlord Gary Shandling is shot, Kahn gets stuck in a broken elevator, has to use the bathroom with an audience, gets knocked out by a slamming door, and finds surprising romance suddenly on the beach, while Wilson's makeover promises to help Martin up more to her and Schreiber gets to tango with Martin. The background music has an eclectic mix of a variety of Christmas tunes, everything from the Drifter's version of "White Christmas" to cats and dogs harmonizing together. As far as the story is concerned, there's really not much to it, but the characters are interesting, and the script is big hearted and often touching. Everybody gets the chance to shine, but for me, the standouts are Kahn and Sandler.