Two French Canadian, Dennis and Rene, go to New York City to make money by selling Christmas trees. Dennis needs money to buy his daughter the piano she's love but he don't really like the jobs. With the help of his friend, can he sell all the trees out and earn enough money for his daughter luxury gift?
Overall, it's truly as exciting as you'd think watching two people sell Christmas trees would be, even if those two people are Paul Giamatti and Paul Rudd.
Phil Morrison's direction and choices aren't as bold or as inventive as his styles in Junebug. The story doesn't lend itself to those traits that made him a quiet sensation in the mid-2000s.
This engaging if somewhat underwhelming tale of unlikely redemption builds a funny-sad web of intersecting interactions around its strong central perfs.
"All is Bright is nothing more than empty threats and bottomless desires haphazardly thrown together around a more interesting event that you never get to see.
Morrison films this redemptive story - which has some hard-to-swallow moments - with a dusty gray palette that suits its characters and masquerades the story's more obvious sentimentality.
Worth enduring only for a rare lead performance by Paul Giamatti, whose expert delineation of rage and frustration lends form to Morrison's otherwise shapeless script.
