CHRISTMAS WITH THE COOPERS (12A) 107 mins. Starring John Goodman, Diane Keaton, Ed Helms, Olivia Wilde, Alan Arkin and Marisa Tomei.

THE Christmas holidays can be stressful enough with the kids playing Smash Your Face In on the computer and granny rinsing her teeth in the eggnog bowl.

But when four generations of America’s most dysfunctional family gather around the table to fight over the turkey, the day quickly descends into tidings of discomfort and no joy.

Amidst the usual, often hilarious squabbles and sibling rivalries, dad Sam Cooper (John Goodman) and his wife Charlotte (Diane Keaton) casually announce they are separating after forty years of marriage.

Christmas with the Coopers is not exactly Christmas with the Kranks and if you prefer your seasonal cheer sweet instead of sour, reach for the DVD. However, the Coopers do provide a certain amount of pathos and humour even if you would never want them as neighbours.

The tone veers wildly from slapstick to poignant introspection. There are some nice moments such healing deep divisions between the two-dimensional protagonists.

It's that time of year and the various members of the Cooper family gather for their annual Christmas dinner at the old homestead. Guests include Hank (Ed Helms) and Eleanor (Olivia Wilde), Charlotte's father Bucky (Alan Arkin) and sister Emma (Marisa Tomei), plus flatulent and forgetful aunt Fishy (June Squibb).

En route to the reunion, Emma meets an emotionally conflicted police officer (Anthony Mackie), Bucky bids farewell to his favourite diner waitress (Amanda Seyfried), and commitment-phobe Eleanor enjoys a flirtation in an airport lounge with a handsome returning soldier called Joe (Jake Lacy).

"Be my boyfriend, just for the night," she cheekily suggests, inviting Joe to accompany her home so she can avoid the usual, nagging questions about when she is going to settle down.

Meanwhile, Hank struggles to land a new job to appease his harridan ex-wife (Alex Borstein) and his teenage son Charlie (Timothee Chalamet) attempts to impress a high school crush.

Goodman and Keaton deserve far better, simply going through the motions as their on-screen relationship comes apart at the seams, while Arkin demonstrates a delicate touch in his old coot's heavy-handed scenes.

Tomei and Squibb are both surplus to requirements - mere wrapping on an expensive but ultimately disappointing gift of the season filled to bursting with hoary cliches.