WELCOME TO THE DRACULA PAPRIKA DISCOURSE!!

(meme from tumblr, not my own, original link seems to be dead now)

Funniest joke in the whole movie: “YOU’RE GOING THE WRONG WAY!!!” “He says we’re going the wrong way.” “Oh he’s drunk! Going the wrong way. How would he know where we’re going?”

I think we’re meant to root for Neil both to get home and to understand Del. We know he loves his family and is trying hard and just has a short fuse for people like Del. A less artful movie would have him constantly saying things like “I can’t miss another Thanksgiving, my wife will kill me.”

I always feel like the movie wants you to think Neil is a workaholic absent father, mostly because of two moments (“what’s going on, Neil?” and “like your work, love your wife”), but I don’t know I think movies like Jingle all the Way and Elf just conditioned me to think that.

I think it’s so important that we learn very early on that Del is a really good person and not just an annoying stooge, then he spends the next hour being an annoying stooge. You always remember to root for him no matter how bad it gets.