One December Night

Directed by Clare Niederpruem, One December Night follows two music managers (Eloise Mumford’s Quinn and Brett Dalton’s Jason) as they conspire to bring their feuding rock-star fathers (Peter Gallagher’s Mike and Bruce Campbell’s Steve) back on stage for a lucrative television special. Filmmaker Niederpruem, working from Sib Ventress and Eric Brooks’ screenplay, delivers an exceedingly genteel and generic drama that contains little in the way of attention-grabbing elements, and yet there’s no denying that One December Night remains surprisingly watchable for the duration of its admittedly padded-out running time – with the picture’s extremely mild success due almost entirely to the personable efforts of its various performers. (It goes without saying, ultimately, that Gallagher and Campbell establish themselves as the movie’s obvious MVPs, as Mumford and Dalton turn in cute yet thoroughly bland work as the milquetoast heroes.) And although it predominantly feels as though it’s emerged from a template for films of this ilk, One December Night does progress into a satisfying final half hour that boasts its share of touching, tear-jerking revelations and happenings – which ultimately cements its place as a decent-enough (albeit entirely forgettable) made-for-television endeavor.

**1/2 out of ****