This is one quirky Christmas movie about a large and extended family named Cooper, four generations of them gather for Christmas dinner and the whole proceeding is viewed by the family pooch Max whose voice is that of Steve Martin. A gambit going all the way back to Jackie Cooper's TV series People's Choice.

John Goodman and Diane Keaton are the Cooper parents and there's a ton of kids and grandkids. there and expecting. All bring their little problems and angsts to mommy and daddy as if Goodman and Keaton don't have enough of their own.

Standing out is young Timothee Chalamet who comes across like a real kid in this as opposed to a Hollywood kid. Tim is one of their grandkids dealing with both hormonal pangs and a bully and not doing well with either.

Love The Coopers is a fine, but different kind of Yuletide film.

It's Christmas Eve and the Coopers are gathering for a family dinner. Sam (John Goodman) and Charlotte (Diane Keaton) are fighting after a long marriage. Their son Hank (Ed Helms) lost his job and is struggling to get his kids gifts. Emma (Marisa Tomei) has always been jealous and bitter at her sister Charlotte. She tries to steal a broach and is arrested by Officer Williams (Anthony Mackie). Sam and Charlotte pick up Aunt Fishy (June Squibb) from the retirement home. Charlotte's father Bucky (Alan Arkin) keeps eating at a diner for the companionship of waitress Ruby (Amanda Seyfried) and definitely not for the food. Eleanor (Olivia Wilde) hates to be the disappointment to her mother Charlotte and picks up military Joe (Jake Lacy) at an airport bar.

This is a rather standard PG dysfunctional family Christmas. There is some good and some less-than-good from the talented cast. Wilde and Lacy are the most fun and their formulaic rom-com works well. Goodman and Keaton's fighting is a little annoying. Keaton has played this character a lot and this is not her best. Helms plays the pathetic guy. It's not the most endearing performance. I expected more back story from Arkin and Seyfried. There should be a bigger reason why he keeps going to the diner to see her. All in all, this is a functional dysfunctional family fare with a few minor problems. The one problem that keeps distracting from the story is Steve Martin's narration. Both the narrations and the flashbacks keep disrupting the flow. The narration's reveal do not help either. It's a gimmick that is too cheesy to spoil. The standard material and good cast should be good enough for a passable movie except for the disruptive narrations.

Any number of the films we now think of as unassailable holiday classics -- Christmas in Connecticut, White Christmas, even It's a Wonderful Life -- were dismissed as corny and formulaic in their original reviews, so it's no surprise that Meet the Coopers met the same fate. But I suspect time will be kind to this one: it's warm without being gooey, the humor is sharp and observant, the ensemble is top-notch, and the soundtrack is quite lovely.

If, like me, you're a fan of the dysfunctional-family Christmas comedy (The Ref, La Bûche, A Christmas Tale),this one may well sneak up on you and enter your annual holiday rotation. If I ever get to update my holiday film guide "Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas," this one would definitely go in.