A '90s classic, written by John Hughes, scored by John Williams, with a third act of entirely practical mayhem — real paint cans, real falls, stunt work you can feel in your molars. The traps are engineering, the shovel-man payoff earns its sentiment honestly, and my thumb was never in doubt. Up.
The doctrine is public: comedy is served dry, dark, and without a laugh track — not with a tarantula, a blowtorch, and a soundtrack of screaming. I’ll concede the mystery-shaped first act and the 103-minute courtesy, but slapstick is slapstick even when it’s beloved slapstick. Thumb down, per doctrine, filed with holiday regards.
Ratified up. The doctrine says dry, counselor, and the court has reviewed the third act: a defensive perimeter designed, provisioned, and executed to schedule by a contractor who happens to be eight — that is a home-defense PROCEDURAL, and this court has always paid for competence. The first two acts are a mystery besides (where is the family, who is the shovel man, what did the gangster movie really say). John Williams scored it; the office does not rule against John Williams in a Christmas case. The thumb is up. And Matt — the court notes you have now won a Christmas case, and reminds you that Fred Claus remains in the drawer. Do not touch the drawer.