Tinsel Town

Published December 18, 2025

Film info

Title Tinsel Town
Director Chris Foggin
Year 2025
Run time 1hr 34m
Genres Comedy, Romance
Tagline Star-struck at Christmas

A washed-up Hollywood action hero is tricked into starring in a small English town’s chaotic Christmas pantomime, where a straight-talking dance instructor and his estranged daughter just might help him rediscover the magic of the season.

Live blog

Time	Comment
2:06	I want to watch the Killing Time series!
4:03	“I’ve only ever done films.” “Well, it’s exactly the same, just louder.”
13:16	Ooh, weird Rebel Wilson not being Australian.
15:14	Sheeple!
19:33	Yay it’s Trent Crimm from the Independent!
25:35	“It’s Buttons or bust.”
25:58	I love the person who does every job in town.
36:41	I just don’t see Rebel and Danny Dyer as a couple AT ALL.
50:16	I would love to have a look through Derek Jacobi’s scrapbook.
52:22	“Theatre’s not about money, lad!”
1:01:50	Mulled wine is grim, can’t imagine drinking enough to get drunk.
1:08:36	You surely can’t just pop over and be a lawyer like that, the laws are completely different.
1:14:52	I really love shit fighting.
1:25:29	Don’t make me want to go and see a panto, please.

Thoughts

Overall, this is a fun Christmas movie, enjoyable to watch and with plenty of heart and a good story. Lots of fun elements - fish out of water, the guy that does every job in the town, the wonderful Derek Jacobi stealing the show, and a panto at the end. It’s not without problems though. Rebel Wilson is miscast in this from the get-go. The accent is terrible and she’s not believable as a love interest for either Danny Dyer or Keifer Sutherland. I like her but this is not it.

There are a few plotholes, the viability of the theatre, why Danny Dyer left his kid at a train station to pick up a friend, the lawyer coming over for such a small offence. You can over-look it, because it’s Christmas, but it does knock it down a point or two.

Rating: 3 / 5