Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Click & Collect’ On BritBox, Where Stephen Merchant And Asim Chaudhry Cross The UK To Get A Toy On Christmas Eve

Would you expect Stephen Merchant, who along with Ricky Gervais brought us The Office and Extras, to star in a wholesome holiday special? And if he did, what would that look like? BBC One and BritBox viewers will get a chance to find out on Christmas Eve, when Click & Collect debuts. Can a wholesome holiday flick be funny in this day and age?

CLICK & COLLECT: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: Andrew Bennett (Stephen Merchant) is standing on line at a busy toy store on Christmas Eve to get Sparklehoof the Unicorn Princess, the hottest toy of the season and the one thing his daughter wants for Christmas. Andrew’s wife Claire (Sophia Di Martino) has reserved one, but when he goes to claim it, he finds the store jacked up the price by 20 quid. In a loud huff, he refuses to pay the extortion prices and leaves.

At home, he notices that his very eager neighbor Dev D’Cruz (Asim Chaudhry) has expanded the garish lights on his house over to Andrew’s, and he just can’t confront the ingratiating Dev to tell him that he doesn’t want those lights on… at all. Instead, he writes a strongly-worded note; Claire tells him to just talk to Dev directly. Andrew pretends he got a complaint call from the village council and pulls the plug. For his part, Dev is overdoing Christmas a bit because this is the first one since his divorce and his sons will be with their mother for the holidays.

Andrew is content giving his daughter a science kit, but Claire says she’ll be heartbroken if she doesn’t get Sparklehoof. Enter Dev; he did a click and collect to get what seems to be the last Sparklehoof in the entire UK; trouble is, it’s four-and-a-half hours away. Because the toy is on his card, he insists on going with Andrew. Suffice to say, a lot of mishaps and hilarity ensue on the trip, including the sight of the tall, lanky Andrew in an elf outfit. But they also learn a lot more about each other in the process.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Planes, Trains & Automobiles crossed with Jingle All The Way.

Performance Worth Watching: It’s a tie between Merchant, who does his usual job of being a gangly, snarky grouch who mutters funny lines under his breath, and Chaudhury, who plays Dev’s earnestness as more endearing than annoying.

Memorable Dialogue: When they encounter a homeless man outside a rest stop, Andrew and Dev argue the difference between “spare change” and “loose change”.

Single Best Shot: Dev opens a bottle of soda in the car, which sprays all over the windshield. He turns on the wipers, and Andrew goes, “that’s on the outside.”

Sex and Skin: Nothing. You can watch this with your grandma.

Our Take: There’s nothing about Click & Collect, written by Joe Tucker and Lloyd Woolf, that’s new. It’s a pretty wholesome holiday comedy special where two people go on a road trip. The grouchy guy, in this case Andrew, softens and learns to love his annoying neighbor (Dev), and we find out why Dev is as annoying as he is. There are beats where they’re sidelined, and they rally to recover; there’s a disagreement that almost derails the friendship they’ve built.

But Merchant and Chaudhry make the most of the material and give viewers a funny holiday film that’s a dry, snarky version of a Hallmark holiday movie. Merchant has played guys like Andrew before, where the humor in his character come from extreme discomfort with himself and those around him. And Chaudhury’s character of Dev is so earnest, hiding a lot of sadness just underneath the surface, that the annoying things he does, like regale everyone in earshot of his heroic click and collect of the toy, are funny in an endearing way.

There are a couple of moments, not spoiled here, that subvert the feelgood holiday conventions a bit, and there are a few improvisations between Merchant and Chaudhury that made it into the final cut, making the movie even more enjoyable.

Our Call: STREAM IT. It’s a fun movie, even if it’s a little predictable.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, VanityFair.com, Playboy.com, Fast Company’s Co.Create and elsewhere.

Watch Click & Collect on BritBox