5 Star Christmas

5 Star Christmas succumbs to political jargon more than the Christmas spirit. It mixes comedy with the irony of allegiances in Government and the flagrant vanity of the life of a politician in the upper echelons. The story follows Italian Prime Minister Franco Rispoli (Massimo Ghini) who is under pressure from his dwindling polls and makes a visit to Budapest to tighten relations with Hungary as part of his campaign. His entire stay is a disguise so he can enjoy an affair with his opposite rival Democrat Giulia (Martina Stella) in a 5-star hotel.

Franco is a character that speaks principles on the surface but deep down he plays the game like all other politicians, pretending he is progressive to public servants, yet as soon the door is closed he is consumed by what people think of him. The comedy is his integrity, which is diminished by his excitement by attempting to sleep with the enemy. The problem is his game playing results in a comedic scenario; as he starts to get hot and sweaty with his opposition, who is placed in just bra and knickers to add heat to the problem, they find a dead Santa in his hotel window.

5 Star Christmas imagines a dismantled politician in a situation where his entire political career (and his marriage) can be removed overnight, and the possibility of prison looms over him. The comedy isn’t the fact that he feels he will be accused of murder, but the situation he is in implies some assumptions to the public eye.

As a situational comedy the film is funny as a concept, but it grows tired very quickly. As Franco sweats over the situation, the scenes get sillier and sillier with his acquaintances feeling panicked by the entire drama as well. The writing throws in plenty of references to Macron and Merkel, yet the dialogue feels like fillers rather than an attempt to give a fuller story. I liked 5 Star Christmas to an extent, but the core gag is way too wasteful, and like much Netflix-associated content, the short running time feels longer.