It’s never too soon to start thinking about the holidays, especially if you’re a Hallmark movie fan.
Richard Roeper reveals his reviews on the newest releases this week.
“Holiday Touchdown: A Bears Love Story” (Hallmark)
There’s no such thing as a Hallmark greeting card with a downbeat message, and there’s no such thing as a Hallmark holiday movie without a happy ending. We know exactly what to expect when we settle in for some cozy comfort viewing—and “Holiday Touchdown: A Bears Love Story” follows the playbook and never fumbles the story.
See what I did there? Sure, that was corny, but so are these “Holiday Touchdown” movies. This is actually a handsomely photographed and well-staged production, spotlighting the city in all its December glory. It was filmed during the blistering heat of last July, so props to the actors who filmed all day wearing layers, and the crew members who sweated it out in the sun.
Lyndsy Fonseca is Avery Clark, a freelance reporter based in New York who comes to Chicago for the holidays to visit her mom Jody (Barbara Alyn Woods) and her stepfather (Khary Payton), who run the Irish Nobleman Pub in West Town. Avery lands a freelance assignment at the Chicago Herald to profile a diehard Bears fan named Darlene (the legendary Marsha Mason), a widow who is about to attend her 500th consecutive Bears game. As luck and plot contrivance would have it, Darlene’s grandson Matt (Robert Buckley) is a handsome and good-hearted Chicago firefighter—and get this, Avery and Matt are single! I wonder if they’ll finally realize that what they’ve been looking for all along is right there in front of them.
From a Chicago fireboat cruise and a Soldier Field tailgate to the Andersonville Hardware Store and Halas Hall, “Holiday Touchdown: A Bears Love Story” makes great use of its location shots. You may have heard about some of the real-life former and current Chicago Bears figures who make cameos in the film, but I won’t spoil it beyond saying nobody is better at playing Dan Hampton than Dan Hampton, and this is about as cheery as you’ll ever see Bears coach Ben Johnson in front of the cameras. This is harmless escapist fluff, bolstered by the winning performances of the ensemble cast, most notably Lyndsy Fonseca and the invaluable Marsha Mason.
2.5 stars
“Norm: The Tale of Norm Macdonald” (Netflix)
When the brilliant comedian Norm Macdonald died in 2021 at the age of 61, it came as a shock to all but his closest inner circle, even though Macdonald had been diagnosed with cancer nearly a decade earlier.
That was the public persona of Norm. He reveled in keeping everyone at
arm’s length. That way, he could spin seemingly autobiographical stories that had little basis in truth, and mine the absurdities of his life for his unique brand of humor while maintaining his private life. In Judd Apatow’s documentary “Norm: The Tale of Norm Macdonald,” the protective veneer is finally stripped away—but in the most respectful way. Instead of the familiar technique of retrospective talking-head interviews, the documentary compiles archival footage, personal photos and videos, and even material contributed by fans and friends, so that Norm’s voice is used to narrate his own story.
We’re reminded that while Norm had a handful of roles in movies such as “The People v. Larry Flynt” and “Man on the Moon,” and he had his own sitcom that ran for three seasons on ABC-TV, he was best known for his tumultuous run as “Weekend Update” anchor on “Saturday Night Live,” from which he was fired after he refused to stop hammering O.J. Simpson in his weekly monologues. Through it all, Macdonald was a road warrior standup comic, telling intricately crafted jokes that would often make you squirm even as you couldn’t help but laugh.
The final segments of “Norm” take a deeply poignant turn. We see home video of an ailing Macdonald with his mother, who “lives right beside me,” and we hear him speaking of his embrace of Christianity, and his wistful sentiment that youth is indeed wasted on the young. What starts as a laugh-filled tribute to one of the great comedic minds of his generation becomes a bittersweet farewell to a man who turned out to be a lot more thoughtful and sentimental than that guy on the stage with a microphone, telling jokes in scorched-earth style.
3.5 stars
“Bob and David Climb Machu Picchu” (At the Music Box October 18)
David Cross had wanted to hike the Inka Trail for a long time, always telling himself he’d do it “next year.” When Cross finally decided to commit to the climb, he recruited Bob Odenkirk, his close friend since the “Mr. Show” days on HBO in the 1990s. Their adventure is chronicled in “Bob and David Climb Machu Picchu,” an enlightening and consistently entertaining documentary that is filled with laughs (as you’d expect), but also becomes a reflective meditation on friendship, family, aging and the indelible memories created by venturing outside one’s comfort zone.
Director Michael LaHaie and the crew expertly capture the stunning visuals and adopt the classic “invisible observer” approach; this is essentially a gimmick-free, linear journey that gives us the feeling we’re watching a particularly well-produced home video. Cross and Odenkirk keep up a steady banter as they undertake the arduous climb, though their guide, José, has to remind them to save their breath. The guys can’t help but indulge their comedic instincts and have some fun with their relative degrees of fame, and Odenkirk does a fantastic, albeit obscure, running bit riffing on Robert Durst’s infamous hot-mic moment. (See “The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst” docuseries on HBO. Really. You should see it.)
Still, it never feels like Odenkirk and Cross are performing for us. They’re two incredibly perceptive comic minds; we get the sense this is exactly the way they’d converse even if there were no cameras or microphones involved. We’re reminded that Odenkirk suffered a massive heart attack on the set of “Better Call Saul” in 2021, an experience that would obviously affect anyone’s worldview. We also see how both men have strived to be better fathers than their own dads were, and it’s pretty clear they’ve succeeded.
“Bob and David Climb Machu Picchu” will be screening at the Music Box this Sunday as part of the 62nd annual Chicago International Film Festival, and it continues to play the festival circuit. I wanted to put it on your radar now so you can look for it when a formal release is announced. It’s worth the wait.
3.5 stars
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