Amid the laughter-free desert of the current crop of Christmas comedies (The Night Before, Christmas With the Coopers), it’s a relief to find an ever-so-slightly seasonal romp that delivers a consistent stream of laughs even as it descends into overegged chaos. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are the chalk and cheese Ellis sisters, brought together by their parents’ unilateral decision to sell the old family home and move into a more manageable retirement condo. Ordered to clear out their childhood bedrooms, the overgrown kids resolve to stage one final heroic “Ellis Island” party, reuniting the 80s gang and rekindling their lost youth. Cue much broad-as-beans comedy about middle agers letting their hair down and remembering how to party like it’s 1984. Pitch Perfect director Jason Moore ramps up the Animal House-style destruction (walls cave, ceilings collapse and butts get accidentally plugged), but the central dynamic duo save things from intolerable overindulgence with their well-rehearsed wisecracking shtick. Writer Paula Pell (who also cameos) took inspiration from her own childhood journals, and the best jokes are rooted in real-life sibling rivalries and recognisable nostalgia. Maya Rudolph, Ike Barinholtz and John Leguizamo lend solidly entertaining support, but the show is almost stolen by Dianne Wiest as the mum whose desire for “less clutter” extends to her kids.
