Review: "Make the Yuletide Gay" Makes the Holidays Mildly Amusing at Best

Coming out has changed for the worse for some men/women. I think it's easy for those who are out to mitigate the real or perceived dangers, and there are dangers. The young men can be kicked out of their homes, physically attacked, ostracised, forced into conversion therapy, etc. You have the dominance of the gay-hating/gay baiting religious right, the rise of ex-gay ministries/centres, and a significant rise in violence. The FBI says that hate crimes against gays increase every year. "Crimes based on sexual orientation have been rising since 2005." These are the reported crimes. Like rape victims, the media and/or the defense attorneys almost always make it the victim's fault.  It wasn't so long ago that 20/20 aired a show on MAtthew Shepard's murder where they asserted that Shepard asked for it. That would never have happened if Shepard had been attacked for being black. Yet the mere suggestion that civil rights for Africans-Americans and gay rights are connected would send many into a tizzy.

Even if a person doesn't have to contend with the above, he/she still internalises those messages. He sees hatred of gays codified into law.I can understand why someone would be paralysed with fear.

Having said that, I wish it were not the default response in films and television. I'd like to see stories where gay characters are out and their not agonising over someone finding out they are gay. We've seen the coming out stories. It's time to move past them.

"Good" holiday movies is a question of taste.  I'd have a very happy holiday watching "White Christmas" "The Bishop's Wife" "The Lion In Winter" "It's A Wonderful Life" and "Gremlins," with animation stalwarts "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" and "A Charlie Brown Christmas" as well.  (And maybe that old animated version of "A Christmas Carol," the one with the really scary Marley.)  Also need to see "Magoo's Christmas Carol" again someday.  Oh, and the Rankin-Bass classics--"Rudolph" and "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" "The Little Drummer Boy" and "Nestor the Long-Eared Donkey" (SOB!!).

My second tier would include "Edward Scissorhands" "24 Nights" and "Latter Days" (which ends on Thanksgiving).  I avoid anything involving Ben Affleck, Vince Vaughn, or Chevy Chase.

Brent, I agree with all of your points.  There are ridiculous plot holes big enough to drive a sleigh through.  (See what I did there?  Oh, I slay me.  Oops, did it again!)

Yet, oddly enough, I quite enjoyed the little film.  Perhaps, I went into it not expecting much with its micro-budget and little known stars.  Also, I really LOVE Christmas time, and of course I love the gays.  I've never seen both together...a gay-themed Christmas movie...so I think for me it was more a novelty thing.

Another thing, I don't mind coming out stories, while I still recognize that they're beyond cliche at this point.  There's something perversely fascinating with them for me, regardless of whether it's in a drama or comedy.

The only thing that REALLY annoyed me was the mom's constant obnoxious laugh.  And the lack of snow.  Everything else was very sweet and amusing to me.  And yes, Keith Jordan was absolutely adorable in the film.  Can't believe he hasn't done much of anything else.

Oh, your description of the movie feeling like it came from 1987 may also be a dead-on reason why I enjoyed it.  Love my 80s movies.  Grew up in that era.  So, there's a kind of 80s "innocence" to it.    :)

It really turns you into the holiday mood when all the snark turns christmassy. LOL.

Its a shame about Gates McFadden, when I saw her in the trailer I made a point of trying to watch this movie, even if what you talk about does come trough in the trailer itself.

I still might give it a go. 

I also really wanted to like this film, but the combination of a bad script, poor production values and inconsistent/underdefined characters made it impossible. One of the major issues that bugged me was that, despite the attempts at recreating Christmas decor at the family home, I never felt that the actions were taking place during the holiday season. It's hard to explain, but beyond the lack of snow and winter weather, the film felt like it was set in early-to-mid-fall rather than late December, which may have to do with the fact that it was filmed in the Los Angeles area.

Another issue that bothered me is that I never really felt a familial connection between Gunn and his parents, nor did I get a married-couple feeling between the parents themselves. It might have to do with the fact that I'm so used to seeing Derek Long (the dad) playing gay in films like "Socket" and "Gay Bed & Breakfast Of Terror," and that Kelly Keaton (the mom) came across like a stock St. Olaf character from a Rose Nylund flashback - their relationship never felt real to me.

I was also very disappointed that Gates McFadden and Ian Buchanan (former General Hospital/Port Charles/All My Children soap star) were given such limited screen time, and seemed to be completely superfluous to the plot.

Overall, I'd say check it out if you can catch it for free on Logo - I don't remember any nudity or profanity that would need to be edited out. If you buy or rent the DVD, though, chances are you'll feel you spent too much.

I saw the film and I have to agree with Giovanni and Brent. While I think coming out is a serious and real issue, this film trivialises it to an insulting degree. The movie felt like Procter and Gamble produced it because there was a decided lack of intimacy between the two boyfriends even before they were at the family home. Every time they were about to kiss our have sex, the mother or father interrupted them. The neighbor girl got to kiss him more passionately. I am so sick of gay themed stories where the gay man gets more action from women!

Was this a television film? No nudity, no sex, no language, nothing. I'm not saying a movie must have that, but it felt like the movie was either edited for content or was pulling back from anything gay.

I'm not surprised that Rob William directed this. He's a medioce writer/director at best. If a script is good, I don't care about a small budget. The problem here is that the characters never feel real. They're all driven by the plot to do predictable and/or nonsensical things.