Tonight's Movie: Feast of the Seven Fishes (2019)

Spend Christmas 1983 with an Italian Catholic family in working class Pennsylvania in FEAST OF THE SEVEN FISHES (2019).

The title refers to the traditional Christmas Eve meal prepared by many Pennsylvania Italian Catholic families.  I first learned of this tradition in columns such as this one by New York Post columnist -- and Pennsylvanian -- Salena Zito.  (She's also written fascinating essays on Pennsylvania's wedding cookie table tradition.)

Tony Oliverio (Skyler Gisondo) is a cleancut young man taking business courses while helping out at his family's small market, which it's expected he'll take over running one day.  However, Tony really aspires to go to art school.

Tony has recently broken up with Katie (Addison Timlin), who still carries a torch for him.  A couple nights before Christmas, Tony's cousin Angelo (Andrew Schulz) and Angelo's girlfriend Sarah (Jessica Darrow) take Tony on a double date with Sarah's friend Beth (Madison Iseman, Bethany in the 2017 and 2019 JUMANJI movies).

Beth is a quiet Protestant Ivy Leaguer from a wealthy part of town, but despite their differing backgrounds, Beth and Tony hit it off.  Tony introduces Beth to his family, and while his elderly Nonnie (Lynn Cohen) is concerned Beth will break Tony's heart, Beth hits it off with the rest of the family; she memorably shares a brief adventure with Uncle Frankie (Joe Pantoliano) when Frankie goes after someone who had given Tony a shiner.  Don't mess with Uncle Frankie's family!

Beth spends Christmas Eve enjoying the Feast of the Seven Fishes with the Oliverio clan, but will Tony's ex Katie and Beth's uptight mother (Lisa Velten Smith) break up the budding romance?

I found this film, written and directed by Robert Tinnell, quite enjoyable, though there were some aspects I didn't care for.

Addressing the negatives first, the movie was more crass than it needed to be, including multiple characters throwing up over the course of the film, a couple of girls being momentarily high on pot, and couples casually sleeping together.  This is perhaps more a matter of personal taste, and other viewers may not find these aspects to be issues; in the movie's favor, nothing is explicit.

Gisondo and Iseman are charming as Tony and Beth; they rather reminded me of another cross-cultural couple, Tony and Eilis in BROOKLYN (2015), though that took place in an earlier time frame.  I especially liked how Tony's raucous Italian family welcomed Beth and overcame any reserve she had about visiting near strangers for Christmas, and I admired her openness to new experiences.

Pantoliano and Cohen head a deep cast of colorful characters as Tony's family.  Timlin's Katie manages to transcend what could have been a stock character, so that the audience eventually comes to care for her along with rooting for Tony and Beth.  Josh Helman also does a nice job as Tony and Katie's thoughtful friend Juke.

There are lots of nostalgic touches sure to please anyone who was around in the early '80s, right down to the telephones, and I liked the way the family's Christmas decor, such as the little light-up tree in the kitchen, clearly predated the '80s and had been in the family for years.  I loved everything about the movie's look, filmed by Jamie Thompson, and how the viewer is acutely conscious of looking back in time to people who would no longer be present for Christmas when the film was made in 2019.  Indeed, this is accented by the movie periodically switching to seeing the action via home movies.

There are other very interesting and unique touches, such as the quickly narrated montages of food preparation and a brief Christmas Eve sequence which is animated; indeed, the screenplay was apparently preceded by a graphic novel.  

The movie's evocative location filming took place in West Virginia near the border of southwestern Pennsylvania.

In the end, it wasn't a perfect 99 minutes, having some moments I could have done without, but the positives definitely outweighed the negatives for me and I was glad I watched it.  It's always nice to see a new-to-me film set at Christmas, and it's one I will watch again at some point.

FEAST OF THE SEVEN FISHES is available on DVD and Blu-ray from Shout! Factory.  I watched the DVD, which has a number of extras including the trailer, a commentary track by writer-director Tinnell, and a "behind the scenes" featurette.

A trailer is available on YouTube.

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