Movies, for one, are too expensive. When someone looks for movies, especially around this time of year, no one wants to waste their money on a cheesy holiday movie where one can predict the ending.

However, Love the Coopers isn’t the classical, basic, or predictable Christmas movie.

For Christmas Eve celebrations, Sam Cooper (John Goodman) and his wife Charlotte (Diane Keaton) welcome the four generations of the Cooper clan back home.

As the four generations make their way back to their parents house, the movie introduces son Hank (Ed Helms), daughter Eleanor (Olivia Wilde) and Charlotte’s father, Bucky (Alan Arkin).

Yet this movie is no Home Alone, or A Christmas Story, but it’s certainly a good-natured movie and in some instances wildly entertaining, yet emotional.

Set in a snowy home in Pittsburgh, Sam and Charlotte Cooper are a couple married for 40 years. Before the rest of the family joins for their annual Christmas Eve dinner, Sam and Charlotte plan to separate, but they both agree to keep quiet during the holidays.

The movie also tells the story of Rudy (Amanda Seyfried), a waitress at the local cafe and friend of Bucky. He gets upset when Rudy tells him how she is leaving. Switching the stories to  Charlotte’s sister (Marisa Tomei),  who is caught shoplifting an ugly brooch and picked up by a chatty cop (Anthony Mackie).

It progresses to Hank, who is out of work and is in the middle of a divorce.

Lastly, the movie progresses to Eleanor, who is searching throughout the airport looking for love where she meets an Army guy (Jake Lacy) on leave. They begin to show chemistry and establish the best array in the picture. Throughout the whole story Aunt Fishy (June Squibb) adds some laughs as she plays the role of the dotty aunt.

In the end, the movie concludes with the surprising ending of the family dog, who narrates the entire story. He sure has secrets of his own.

Whatever venue, Love the Coopers is the perfect gift for the whole family.

In the end, the Cooper clan rediscovers the meaning of family and their love for one another, even when life gets in the way. They rekindle the meaning of the holiday season.