A Tuna Christmas (1996 TV Movie) User Reviews

So far, the best of the three

[kzlister · 10/10 · 28 April 2005]

Maybe it's because I like Christmas, or maybe it really is the funniest, but I think that this is the best of the three Tuna plays.

It is an acquired taste if you aren't from Texas or at least the South, partly due to the nature of the humor and partly due to some extent of "inside" humor that pretty much only we can appreciate. Not because it's high'y intellectual, but because it hits so close to home.

The reason I think this one is funniest is probably because it's not as dark as the first (you'd have to see Greater Tuna to know what I'm talking about, but it's really just one scene.) This one has nothing but laugh out loud situations and is so quotable it's obnoxious at times.

To be fair, Red White and Tuna is a newer play, and has not even premiered on Broadway yet, so Mr. Williams and Mr. Sears are constantly working out the comedy and even some minor plot points. It could very well outshine it's big brothers, but we'll see.

For now, this is the best.

A Tuna Christmas is a nice change-of-pace from the usual holiday fare

[tavm · 10/10 · 13 December 2007]

Having long seen this video on display in my local library and wanting to see anything that fits the Christmas season, I decided to check out A Tuna Christmas out of curiosity. Joe Sears and Jaston Williams are the only actors playing a multitude of characters that live in the small Texas town of Tuna as they all prepare for Christmas. It begins at a radio station then goes to a woman with two grown twins-a girl and a boy-at a house then to a diner then back at the radio station...and many other stuff that is impossible to describe. The humor comes naturally and is always based on characterization as opposed on one-liners. Ed Howard co-wrote with Sears and Williams a sort of Robert Altman-style of pacing that seems more improvised than scripted. Nice spreading of various holiday songs provided by mainly country artists like Randy Travis or Buck Owens throughout many transitions. Taped live at a theater in Dallas, A Tuna Christmas was a most enjoyable play that provided plenty of laughs with some touching drama near the end. If I ever come across its predecessor, Greater Tuna, I'll certainly check that out!

Someone for Everybody

[salan-26646 · 10/10 · 30 July 2022]

Anyone from Texas, the South, or any other part of the world where quirky family members, friends, or neighbors exist will find SOMEONE among these characters to love.

The story lampoons so much southern cultural lore that it has to be watched more than once to catch all the little witty asides. Mr. Williams and Mr. Sears do poke fun of their characters, but in a loving way that shows no malice for the real people behind them.

Racism, bigotry, religious zealotry, and class struggle are all fodder for the talented and agile pair of actors who seamlessly flow from character to character with costume changes that are so fast, we hardly notice when one character steps off and a new one enters.

Each of these characters (I counted at least 15) is distinctively rendered in a true comedy Tour de Force.

I defy anyone to watch this great Christmas play and not see someone they know on the stage.