CHRISTMAS EVE (2015)

An accident in Manhattan, resulting in a delivery van hitting a transformer and knocking out the power in all the neighboring buildings, strands five different groups of strangers and one Scrooge-like businessman (Patrick Stewart) in six different elevators on Christmas Eve.  From a group of classical musicians, to a photographer and a beautiful girl, to a pair of doctors and their interns and a patient straight out of recovery, to a germaphobe stuck with a pair of ditzy girls and a brainiac and a muscle-bound jock, to a guy just fired from his job forced to share an elevator with the guy who fired him, the film interchanges between the groups as time passes and tensions (and fears) mount ... in, to me, what felt like possibly the least-Christmassy Christmas movie I've ever seen.  The cast tries hard, and several moments are sweet, but overall the film - billed as a drama-comedy - isn't very funny, and there are too many characters for the film to develop any of them enough for you to care.  Predictable and formulaic.  Even Patrick Stewart is annoying. (rated PG)  C-