Christmas means comfort, joy, and chaos.
Love the Coopers is a 2015 American Christmas comedy-drama film distributed by Lionsgate and CBS Films, directed by Jessie Nelson and starring an Ensemble Cast including Alan Arkin, John Goodman, Ed Helms, Diane Keaton, Jake Lacy, Anthony Mackie, Amanda Seyfried, June Squibb, Marisa Tomei, and Olivia Wilde.
It follows Sam Cooper and his wife Charlotte as they invite four generations of their extended family to their annual Christmas Eve party.
Tropes include:
- Advertised Extra: Anthony Mackie has the least screentime of the cast, appearing in a handful of scenes before disappearing from the plot, despite being featured in the marketing and on the film's poster.
- Ambulance Cut: When Bucky collapses and has a stroke at the dinner table.
- Bumbling Dad: It's implied Bucky considered himself this after Emma and Charlotte's mother passed away.
- Covers Always Lie: There is very little evidence of this being a Christmas movie on the cover of the U.S. DVD and Blu-ray. The fact that the title of the movie has the world "love" in it and the cover having the cast's photos arranged inside a heart makes it seem like they were trying to market it as a Valentine's Day movie, as since the Blu-ray came out in February in the U.S.
- Dance Party Ending: All of the Coopers and their love interests, except for Bucky who is still recovering from a mild stroke, dance together as the film closes out.
- Dinner and a Show: Given the Christmas Eve setting, it's unsurprising.
- Dysfunctional Family: The Coopers are in constant conflict with themselves and each other, despite attempting a peaceful facade for the holiday.
- Fake Relationship: Eleanor meets a soldier named Joe while at the airport and "convinces" him to pose as her boyfriend.
- Flashback/Flashback Cut: There are many of these involving the Cooper family and other characters.
- Holiday Pardon: Emma is arrested by police officer Percy Williams after she attempts to shoplift a piece of jewelry as a gift for her older sister, Charlotte. In his car, Emma engages him in a conversation about their personal lives while pretending to be a psychiatrist. When she let slip that she lied about certain things, he cut her off before, some time later, forgiving and letting her go, with advice that she buy Charlotte the most expensive Christmas gift she can afford.
- Hurrying Home for the Holidays: Eleanor seems to be hurrying home, then opts to stay in the airport (which she does for a while) rather than face her family.
- Innocent Swearing: Madison uses the word "dick" frequently, considering that she picked up the word from her mom Angie during an argument.
- Intergenerational Friendship: Bucky and Ruby
- Mall Santa: There are a few of them shown in the opening montage, and later when Charlotte and Sam take Madison around town and awkwardly explain to her that the assembled crowd of them are his "army of helpers".
- Market-Based Title: Known as Christmas with the Coopers in the UK and Ireland.
- Missing Mom: Charlotte and Emma's mom is seen alive in flashbacks during their pre- to early teen years but, as implied by Bucky's teary-eyed reminiscence of her, she presumably died later on.
- Narrator All Along: Rags the dog, voiced by Steve Martin. When he declares that it's his tale, the camera pans to his tail.
- Playing Doctor: Eleanor is seen doing this as a child at a Christmas party.
- Pensieve Flashback: There is one including Charlotte and Emma as children during Christmas dinner when Bucky and the family reminisce about past Christmases.
- Shout-Out: Eleanor's fake boyfriend's name is Joe Bailey, a reference to the holiday classic It's a Wonderful Life. She also compares him to Clarence from the same film, being there "to save her wonderful life".
- Sibling Rivalry: Emma thinks that Charlotte had been Always Someone Better since their childhood. After rushing Bucky to the hospital, Charlotte points out that one of Emma's objects of envy, Charlotte's family (namely her marriage and her children's lives), is imperfect and actually falling apart and Emma is also part of that family.
- The Stoic: Officer Williams is this. Through his conversation with Emma, it's revealed he became this due to his mother's disapproval of his flamboyant personality as a young boy.
- "Stuck at the Airport" Plot: Played With, rather than being stuck by delays or bad weather Eleanor decides to stay in the airport instead of going home for Christmas Eve.
