Movie Review: The Baltimorons (Chicago Critics Film Festival)

Jay Duplass crafts one of the best Christmas movies in recent years with The Baltimorons, a sweet and uproarious Christmas journey through the heart of Baltimore.

Cliff (Michael Strassner), a recently sober former improv comic, is on his way to his girlfriend’s (Olivia Luccardi) parents’ house on Christmas Eve when an accident at the front stoop forces him to take an emergency trip to the dentist. It being Christmas Eve, not many dentists’ offices are open, but luckily for Cliff, Didi (Liz Larsen) picks up the phone and agrees to help him.

What starts as a seemingly simple dental procedure turns into a Christmas odyssey through the streets of Baltimore, as Cliff and Didi go through a string of adventures, from breaking Cliff’s car out of the impound lot, a sketch comedy act, and a sweet potato casserole, among other things.

I watched The Baltimorons in May, but it gave me the joyous Christmas spirit of a holiday classic. It is a sweet and loving movie about two lost souls who find each other on a holiday that can be as lonely as it is comforting. Following a suicide attempt that goes awry, which we see in the opening scene of the movie that is, like the rest of the movie, equally heartbreaking and funny, Cliff is now six months sober and has given up sketch comedy due to his fear of being bad without alcohol and being in that environment and feels lost. Didi is divorced, and her ex-husband got married on this day without her knowledge, ruining any plans she had to spend the day with her children and grandchildren. Reminiscent of the Christmas classic Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, these two opposite people embark on a journey through Baltimore on Christmas despite their differing personalities and views on life. It’s beautiful watching Cliff and Didi’s bond grow; seeing them waltz through the lit-up streets of Baltimore on Christmas makes it even sweeter.

What ultimately makes The Baltimorons work is the chemistry between Strassner and Larsen. Strassner co-wrote the screenplay with Duplass and based a lot of Cliff on his own life, including the suicide attempt, his sobriety, and his comedic, self-deprecating humor. Larsen is mostly known for her work on Broadway, and while the two have very different backgrounds, their chemistry lights up the screen. Whether they are bickering about a casserole or dancing together by a lit Christmas tree, Strassner and Larsen have an undeniable connection that you feel from the moment they meet. Both give two sensational performances that require them to be funny, sympathetic, and full of heart. They are the heart and soul of The Baltimorons, a movie that, if found by the right audience, could become a modern Christmas classic.

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