Just because he’s Mr. Universe and the Terminator doesn’t mean Arnold Schwarzenegger does not have a soft side. In fact, Commandos himself once directed a made-for-television remake of the classic holiday movie. Christmas in Connecticut. It seems inexplicable at first glance, but as recent Arnold Netflix documentaries have shown, the Terminator had a deep desire to be as American as apple pie. Schwarzenegger loves everything American, and his foray into directing speaks volumes about a side of his personality that didn’t fully emerge until decades later when he ran for political office. As we revisit this intriguing but not exactly stellar film, we can see what it says about Arnold as a person. We will also learn the answer to the burning question: can Arnold Schwarzenegger direct?
What is Christmas in Connecticut about?
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A 1992 made-for-television film by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Christmas in Connecticut this is a remake of the 1945 classic and star Dyan Cannon, Kris KristoffersonAnd Tony Curtis. It originally aired on TNT and received some negative reviews, but was largely ignored. The story revolves around Elizabeth Blaine (Cannon), a cooking show host who doesn’t really know how to cook, and Jefferson Jones (Kristofferson), a heroic forest ranger. Jones becomes a television news sensation after rescuing a boy stranded in the Rocky Mountains. Somehow, Jones’ house goes up in flames while he rescues the boy, and the only item recovered from the charred remains is one of Blaine’s cookbooks. So, Blaine’s manager/producer Alex (Curtis) has the brilliant idea of filming a special program in which Blaine cooks Jones a Christmas dinner. Jokes begin when Blaine tries to make a special film while hiding the fact that she can’t cook and doesn’t have a family.
Why is Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Christmas in Connecticut so good?
Much of the plot of the story seems unnecessarily illogical and complicated. If Jones knows nothing about Blaine, why would he need one of her cookbooks? How did his house burn down? Why would Blaine pretend to have a fake family on her TV special when it would be incredibly easy to figure out that her “husband” is her manager and her “son-in-law” is an actor? Why would she even pretend to have a family; Won’t it just be a matter of time before these lies are revealed to the public? Perhaps all of these questions boil down to nit-picking rather than fatal flaws, but that’s just the beginning of the film’s problems.
The film’s biggest sin is that it’s not funny, but it tries its best to be. All attempts at comedy feel like a complete amateur hour. The film makes the rookie mistake of thinking audiences will laugh if its characters are cartoony and their performances are over the top. There is an over-reliance on bumbling physical humor that feels completely fabricated. It doesn’t help that every comic character is a showbiz cliché: the crazy manager, the pretentious actor, and the superficial female celebrity.
Despite all that, Kristofferson and Cannon actually have pretty good chemistry. It’s probably the only thing that’s above average in the movie. They are believable as a couple and make the idea of ”opposites attract” work quite well. They make a valiant attempt to keep the film from going completely off the rails. If there is something effective in Christmas in Connecticut everything that makes the viewer feel that warm, cozy feeling that holiday movies are meant to evoke is entirely due to the two main characters.
Can Arnold Schwarzenegger direct well?
Much of the film feels like the scenes were filmed with no regard for how they should be filmed or how one scene transitions into another. This leads to some fancy editing options. At one point, we seem to be in the middle of a conversation when a close-up of the character’s face suddenly dissolves into the frame of Jones’ burned-out cabin.
In another case, there’s a quick transition between appearing and disappearing that looks like it’s happening because the editor has nothing else to work with. Some fairly simple shots (such as a long shot of a house) are poorly composed. In at least one scene, there is a significant discrepancy between shots that apparently took place in the pavilion and shots of duplicate bodies in the real world. There’s a 35-second montage of a felled tree that feels like something that’s been filmed. Tommy Wiseau. There are many pointless zooms. It rarely feels like the camera was placed somewhere for a reason. The pace is far. In general, the direction is damn sloppy.
Why did Arnold Schwarzenegger throw a “Christmas in Connecticut”?
Christmas in Connecticut aims to be a Hallmark-style holiday film with familiar themes of finding love, respecting family, rejecting superficiality, and embracing wholesome values. For Arnold, an Austrian immigrant who dreamed of becoming an American, it’s easy to see why he finds these themes appealing. The film is very similar to the Reagan/Bush era. It celebrates traditionalism and traditional gender roles. That the director of such a film would go on to become a Republican politician is not at all shocking.
It seems that Schwarzenegger is well aware that his film cannot be called a creative triumph. He rarely, if ever, talks about directing. Christmas in Connecticut. The film is never mentioned in any of his Netflix biographical documentaries or his autobiography. Total Recall: My Incredibly True Life Story, although his book does have a passage about his passion for decorating Christmas trees. Since then, he has never directed anything.
Is Christmas in Connecticut Worth Watching?
Christmas in Connecticut it’s an interesting insight into Arnold Schwarzenegger’s feelings beyond just pumping iron and being an action star. His decision to cast Kristofferson and Cannon in the lead roles demonstrates that he has a good eye for talent and can work well with actors. The overall concept of the film is not entirely absurd. With a rewrite and a change in director, Christmas in Connecticut can become solid Lindsay Lohan/A Netflix-style holiday rom-com. For all these reasons, the film deserves to be watched by anyone interested in this one-of-a-kind weightlifter-turned-actor-politician. Arnold Schwarzenegger is one of the most unique figures in American cinema, and his only directing job is nothing less than an interesting experiment.
Source: Collider
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