The Farrelly brothers name their favourite Christmas movies
Think of the Farrelly brothers and you’ll probably be mentally transported (willingly or not) to images of Cameron Diaz unknowingly using ejaculate to style her hair or Ben Stiller getting his scrotum stuck in his jeans zipper. Or maybe you’ll think of a tongue stuck to a frozen pole or Jim Carrey inhaling hot dogs. Either way, Christmas probably isn’t on the list. The brothers’ R-rated comedies appeal to their audiences’ often immature yet very adult humour, and holiday cheer seems just a little too sincere to add to the equation.
But this year, the duo behind There’s Something About Mary and Dumb and Dumber teamed up for the first time in a decade on the PG-13 Christmas caper Dear Santa. It centres on a young boy who accidentally addresses his holiday wishlist to “Satan” rather than “Santa,” and faces severe consequences in the form of a maniacal Jack Black. Walking the line between heartwarming festive cheer and dark devilry, it ultimately lands, as all Christmas movies should, on the side of sentimentality.
This tone might surprise fans of Dumb and Dumber and Kingpin, but during their decade-long hiatus as collaborators, the brothers have independently turned to much more heartfelt fare. Bobby Farrelly recently directed Champions, a sports comedy about a jaded basketball coach (Woody Harrelson) who takes a job helming a team of athletes with intellectual disabilities. In 2018, Peter Farrelly won two Academy Awards for ‘Best Picture’ and ‘Best Original Screenplay’ for directing and co-writing Green Book. A sentimental Christmas movie is, therefore, par for the course.
In a recent interview with Far Out Magazine, the brothers were tasked with naming their favourite Christmas movies, and as the wide-ranging tones of their collective and respective filmographies suggest, they chose films from opposite ends of the spectrum.
“I’ll go all the way back to It’s a Wonderful Life,” Bobby Farrelly said. “George Bailey was just so real. You totally believe that person, and it did have that magical element, just like our movie does, where he was able to see his life had he never been born.”
Frank Capra’s unassailable classic is the high-watermark of holiday films, exploring greed, despair, and, as Farrelly noted, the powerful accumulation of small acts of kindness. Jimmy Stewart’s George “realise[s] that each life is so important and that he didn’t realise how much good he had done in his life just by doing little things,” Farrelly said.
As for Peter Farrelly, the ultimate Christmas movie is pure comedy. “As much as I like Bad Santa,” he said. “If I was going to have to watch a Christmas movie, it would probably be Elf.”
Jon Favreau’s 2003 comedy about an elf (Will Ferrell) who discovers that he is actually a human and travels from the North Pole to New York City to meet his real father (a glowering James Caan) has become a classic in its own right. It may not be as universally beloved as Capra’s landmark film, but over the years, it’s gained a passionate following with its standout performances from Ferrell and Caan and quintessential New York holiday atmosphere.
