I’m not someone who eagerly anticipates films that can be called “Christmas movies,” so the concept has to really be solid to catch my interest. Relativity Media’s Most Wonderful Time sounds like one of the most generic releases of the year, and while its recent casting is a general step in the right direction, I’m still not sold. Bleeding Cool is reporting Amanda Seyfried, Alan Arkin and Felicity Jones are all in negotiations to star in the film. Last February, we learned that Robert Redford and Diane Keaton were signed up, but it’s not clear whether either of them are still attached, though BC’s sources say Keaton, but not Redford, is still in the mix. I think the movie’s fate would fare better if it was the other way around.
Directed by Jessie Nelson (I Am Sam) and written by Steve Rogers (P.S. I Love You), Most Wonderful Time will tell the story of a young woman who brings a friend home to her parents’ house for Christmas, and they pretend that he is her boyfriend. Way original, right?
If the details are correct, Jones is set to play the young woman, while Arkin will settle into his now-normal role of the wise and wily grandfather . Seyfried’s role isn’t determined just yet, but the story is supposed to have several stories branching off from the main story, and she is expected to fit into one of these stories.
What really puts this movie over the top is not only is there a narrator, already an oft-used unnecessary crutch, but that narrator will be the family dog, Rags. I had to make sure I wasn’t reading The Onion when I read that. The voice for Rags has yet to be cast, but there’s no hurry to do that, since they’ll probably record after the main production is said and done and all of the dog scenes are filmed.
It sounds like a more wholesome role for Seyfried, who recently failed to wow critics as adult film actress Linda Lovelace in the recently releasedLovelace. She’s currently filming Seth MacFarlane’s western comedy A Million Ways to Die in the West.
Coming off an Oscar-nominated performance in Ben Affleck’s Argo, and an award-avoiding performance in The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, Arkin is now busy filming Craig Gillespie’s sports drama Million Dollar Arm, and will soon be seen in Peter Segal’s boxing comedy Grudge Match with Robert De Niro and Sylvester Stallone.
Jones, meanwhile, recently starred in Drake Doremus’ indie drama Breathe In, and will soon be seen in Ralph Fiennes’ drama The Invisible Woman. Later on, she’ll star opposite James Franco and Jonah Hill in Rupert Goold’s drama True Story, and will possibly be playing Black Cat in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, if the rumors are to be believed.
Most Wonderful Time is set to begin filming this winter, and you can probably expect to hear some dog narration by Christmas 2014.
