Inconsistent holiday comedy squanders talented ensemble

Animated film offers laughs for the whole family

One of the best aspects of 21st century Hollywood's affinity for animated films is that you not only get a wide variety of films, but a wide variety of talented filmmakers filmmakers who might not have otherwise involved themselves with animation coming on board to make movies.

Comedy offers great performances, plenty of laughs

Screen chemistry is a tricky thing. In any sort of cinematic relationship - especially a romantic one - your leads have to have the proper dynamic between them. They are the foundation from which the rest of the movie builds; without a strong, engaging relationship in that spot, everything else falls apart.

And just because the actors involved are charismatically gifted individually does not mean that their on-screen pairing is going to work. It's all about the mixture.