It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia: A Very Sunny Christmas – DVD Review

by Jason Hughes

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: A Very Sunny Christmas

I think I may have found a Christmas classic for people who hate Christmas movies. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia: A Very Sunny Christmas has been out on DVD and Blu-ray since November 17, but don’t worry — you can still buy it in time for Christmas! Maybe pop it in and gather around as a family to watch it.

Then send the kids out of the room, followed by any grandparents, anybody with a weak heart, emotionally sensitive people, and the dog for good measure. When it’s just you and your depravity, settle back and enjoy one of the most twisted Christmas journeys you might ever witness.

The plot is quickly split into two main narratives. In the first, Dennis and Dee deal with how horrible Frank is to them every year on Christmas; he tends to buy for himself whatever it is they most want. The rest of the special delved into the pasts of both Charlie and Mac as they lose their holiday spirit and must learn to find it again.

Dennis and Dee plan “A Christmas Carol”-type of scheme to convince Frank of his shortcomings as a father (and yes, they’re aware he’s no longer their father, but he keeps doing it to them anyway). So I was expecting perhaps a parody of the classic Christmas Carol story one one side, and the journey to discover the true meaning of Christmas on the other.

You can’t, however, have expectations with Sunny. Or you can, so that you can be pleasantly surprised when they go off in totally new and bizarre directions. Mac’s convinced that Christmas is about going to all your neighbor’s houses and taking presents from them, because that’s what his family did. Charlie believes Christmas is about Santas coming to your house with presents, and then going upstairs to make your mother happy. It’s no wonder these people are so screwed up!

The flashback, however, of a young Charlie looking at his new toys while a pants-less dwarf comes downstairs to raid the fridge was both disturbing and hilarious. I saw more of that little guy than I ever wanted to, even though they barely avoided full frontal.

All right, I thought. I can see why this is a DVD-only release. There were some f-bombs dropped, a naked dwarf. But then, Dennis and Dee got to their “ghost of Christmas present” segment. The idea was to hide Frank at the office party for the company he used to work at and screwed over so badly to hear all the people trash-talking him.

But Frank insisted on hiding in the couch, and I thought the impression of his face and body pushing out was hilarious, it was nothing when he busted the seams and came crawling out ass-naked like the couch was giving birth to him. Holey crap, Danny DeVito will truly do anything, and while it was hilarious it was certainly more of DeVito than I ever needed to see!

Everything just went so wrong for everyone at every turn. I don’t want to ruin all of the good bits, nor spoil the ending which just barely managed to avoid the sweet Christmas special endings we expect, and gave us a completely appropriate Sunny final moment … which I guess was happy in its own way as well. I do want to say that I was both horrified and falling off my couch laughing at Charlie dealing with his new-found “Santa issues” at the mall.

DVD Extras

You can’t have a DVD without extras. Actually, you can but it’s a good way to feel ripped off. On this DVD, we get some behind-the-scenes footage, where we learn that DeVito can be a bit of a diva. We also get some bizarre “Young Mac and Young Charlie” clips that weren’t used in the final cut, and the trippiest “Sing-A-Long” section I’ve ever seen.

The only thing that could have improved it would have been the words on the bottom with a little bouncing ball (or rotating their little bouncing heads). It started off innocently enough, with the gang around the piano singing Christmas carols, but by the time it was done, it felt like I was trapped in a horror movie, or tripping on some seriously messed up hallucinogenics.

I would have liked to have seen some outtakes, or even a commentary reel. These guys are funny naturally, and incorporate a lot of improv into the work that they do, so it would’ve been great to see some of that. But, because it was such an amazing and hilarious episode, I won’t take any points off for that.

I will suggest that Sunny keep putting out these direct-to-DVD specials. The series pushes good taste about as far as FX can comfortably allow, but there are no limits on DVD. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is at its best when it’s at its worst, and it doesn’t get worse than this!