8-Bit Christmas
"8-Bit Christmas" plays out like a hybrid of "A Christmas Story," "The Princess Bride" and "The Wizard" and it made this critic feel like a kid again.
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It feels as though “8-Bit Christmas” (now streaming on HBO Max) was tailor-made for me. It’s about an 11-year-old Chicago-based kid who desperately wants a Nintendo Entertainment System for Christmas in 1988. I was the 8-year-old son of a Chicago-raised Dad who received a Nintendo for Christmas in 1989. The movie is essentially “A Christmas Story” (sub a Nintendo for the Red Ryder BB gun) meets “The Princess Bride” (the framing device is a direct lift) meets “The Wizard” (it too is kind of a Nintendo commercial). I nostalgically love all of these movies despite disparities in quality … much like I love “8-Bit Christmas.” It’s nostalgia porn, but nostalgia porn that’s exceedingly well-done.
Jake Doyle (Neil Patrick Harris) is home for the holidays with his daughter Annie (Sophia Reid-Gantzert). She desperately wants a cell phone for Christmas, which he’s unwilling to get her. This prompts Jake to tell Annie about his epic quest for a Nintendo during Christmas 1988 … much to her chagrin.
Young Jake (Winslow Fegley of 2020’s “Come Play”) and his friends – R-rated movie enthusiast Mikey Trotter (Che Tafari), SpaghettiO-allergic Evan Olsen (Santino Barnard), inveterate liar Jeff Farmer (Max Malas), put-upon twins Tammy (Brielle Rankins) and Teddy Hodges (Braelyn Rankins) and resident weird kid Conor Stump (Jacob Laval) – are all obsessed with Nintendo. Even their bully Josh Jagorski (Cyrus Arnold) is obsessed with Nintendo. The kids are so into the console that they’ll tolerate and even bribe the utterly obnoxious Timmy Keane (a hilarious Chandler Dean) in order to hang out in his handsomely-appointed basement and play Nintendo.
Jake’s been working on his Dad John (the awesome Steve Zahn) and Mom Kathy (gifted comedic actress June Diane Raphael) in hopes of receiving a Nintendo for Christmas. They don’t want a video game system in their home as it’ll rot Jake’s brain and make him fat. They also seem more preoccupied with procuring a Cabbage Patch Kid for Jake’s manipulative little sister Lizzy (the adorable Bellaluna Resnick).
Batavia, Ill. native Kevin Jakubowski adapts his novel of the same name and Chicago-born actor Jonathan Sadowski (he was Timothy Olyphant’s hacker minion in “Live Free or Die Hard” and one of the doomed prospective pot dealers from the beginning of 2009’s “Friday the 13th”) serves as a producer. These guys were born in the late 1970s. “8-Bit Christmas” feels authentic to Chicago and the late 1980s. Their love of the area and era is evident and infectious.
Canadian director Michael Dowse (“Goon,” “Stuber,” “Coffee & Kareem”) brings a good deal of his trademark edginess to this PG-rated endeavor (there’s a fair amount of poop and puke jokes). He also employs some clever visual trickery (“Paperboy” gameplay footage transitions to an overhead shot of Jake riding his bicycle along a sidewalk).
Where “8-Bit Christmas” sings is in the details. References to the infamous Bill Ripken error card, Chicago sports (John’s Blackhawks beer cup had me rolling), Kohl’s coupons, Jewel grocery stores and movies such as “Platoon,” “RoboCop” and “Die Hard” aren’t only appreciated … they’re essential.
“8-Bit Christmas” ultimately proves to be much more than a celebration of ‘80s materialism and its true purpose is revealed in its final five minutes. I laughed. I cried. I felt like a kid again. I watched it twice in two days. Highly recommended.