A Merry Friggin’ Christmas, on the surface, looks like your typical holiday movie, with a dysfunctional family getting together for the first time in years, but director Tristram Shapeero and screenwriter Michael Brown give us something a bit more than just another father and son reconciliation story.
Joel McHale stars as Boyd Mitchler, a loving husband and father of two who decides to spend Christmas with his parents. However, this means that he’ll be reunited with his alcoholic father Mitch (Robin Williams in one of his last performances), who years ago ruined the magic of Christmas for Boyd when he told him Santa Claus doesn’t actually exist. Since then, the two have been very distant, and Boyd is intent on keeping the spirit of Christmas alive for his own son, Douglas (Pierce Gagnon), for as long as he can.
Things hit a major snag, however, when Boyd realizes that he has left Douglas’ gifts at home and must drive all the way back to get them in an effort to maintain his son’s belief in Santa Claus. Mitch ends up coming along for the ride with Boyd, which provides the two of them a much needed opportunity to mend their differences after years of immense psychological damage.
The press day for A Merry Friggin’ Christmas was recently held at the London Hotel in West Hollywood, California, and in attendance were McHale and Lauren Graham, who plays Boyd’s wife, Luann. While there, I landed an exclusive interview with both of them and they discussed with me bad Christmas memories that they lived through, the impact Robin Williams had on them and much more.
Check it out in the video above and be sure to catch A Merry Friggin’ Christmas as it’s now in theatres!