FILM FOCUS: MERRY IN-LAWS

 

I don’t know how or why 2014 became the Year of Watching Shelley Long Movies—but it did. Troop Beverly Hills, which stars the Divine Ms. L, is one of the cornerstones of my childhood, but beyond that I could never properly call myself a Shelley Long fan. It was only after Cheers was added to Netflix that I started to fall in love, first with the character of Diane Chambers and then with Ms. Long herself.  So this past year I’ve been seeking out her films, both from the height of her popularity in the late 80s/early 90s and her more recent TV movies (how the mighty have fallen, I know). In 2014 I watched Outrageous Fortune, Strawberry Summer, and A Holiday Engagement. 

While making a list of Ms. Long’s films (do I even need to say at this stage of the game that a list was involved?!) I was pleasantly surprised to see several Christmas movies.  Someday I’ll get to writing about the aforementioned hybrid Thanksgiving-Christmas movie A Holiday Engagement, which Nick and I both liked so much that we went out and bought it after viewing.  But I was most excited to see Merry In-Laws, which thanks to the wonders of TIVO I was able to watch for the first time this year.

Prior to watching, I knew nothing about Merry In-Laws save the title and the fact that Shelley Long was in it.  But I correctly guessed that it was about a woman who ends up engaged to the son of Santa, and that Mrs. Claus (one half of the titular merry in-laws) would be played by Shelley Long.  Made-for-TV movies just love the idea of Santa offspring—everyone from Jenny McCarthy to Kelsey Grammer have played Santa’s spawn over the years.  In Merry In-Laws, Santa’s son is a kindly schoolteacher who proposes to a pretty astronomer.  Because: science = skepticism!  The stage is now set for a showdown between the true believer Klaus Clan and Lady Astronomer’s uptight family.

The plot is really secondary to several other important factors, including the amount of Christmas decorations that appear.  Things start out rather lackluster but once Mr. and Mrs. Claus show up, they deck the halls real good.   Santa is played by George Wendt (who I saw also in the role of Santa in the Broadway musical version of Elf).  And of course Mrs. Claus is played with bubbly enthusiasm by Shelley Long.  Wendt and Long both starred on Cheers back in the day, and I couldn’t help but think of this as some weird alternate universe where Diane ran off with Norm and they gained magical Christmas powers.  This version of Santa and Mrs. Claus are rather affectionate—if not downright randy, and there are several scenes of them pawing at each other and giggling suggestively.  Yeah.  I know.

The movie’s best scene, however, is when Mrs. Claus and her future daughter-in-law bake cookies together.  Lady Astronomer is a terrible cook (we know this because she burns a couple meals prior to this scene), so she is reluctant to bake.   However Mrs. Claus insists that all she needs to make a successful batch of cookies is a little song and dance.  They then proceed to adorably prance around TO THE GREATEST SONG EVER.

Seriously, I have found my anthem for life.  Once the offbeat (yet Christmassy!) tune began to play I was instantly hooked, though doubtful it was a real song and not some random tune made up for the movie.  “Let Siri identify it,” insisted Nick (who worships a god named iPhone) and much to my amazement, Siri proclaimed that the song in question is “Can’t Stop Thinking About Christmas” by Electric Honey.  I can’t stop listening to this song—I love slightly off-kilter Christmas music and this fits the bill.  Plus the lyrics basically spell out my blessing and curse: an obsession with Christmas.

As you can imagine, by the end of the movie the skeptical science family is eventually won over by the merry in-laws, but only after Lady Astronomer thinks her fiancé is cheating on her with an Asian elf.  Merry In-Laws isn’t the greatest made-for-TV movie I’ve ever seen, but it’s certainly a fun way to help pass the time while you wrap presents or work on your cards (you are mailing out cards this year, right? I haven't received mine yet.  Seriously, the clock is ticking).  It’s worth it for the kitchen dancing scene along, and Shelley Long is really charming in her role of horny Mrs. Claus.  Luckily for you, it’s available for cheap on DVD and I’m sure will be running on TV at least once more this holiday season, so keep an eye out!