All Is Bright (released as Almost Christmas in the UK) is a 2013 comedy-drama film directed by Phil Morrison. It stars Paul Giamatti and Paul Rudd, with Sally Hawkins and Amy Landecker in supporting roles. The film debuted at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival, with a video on demand release following on September 10, 2013. It was released in theaters on October 4, 2013.
Synopsis
Out on parole in Quebec after serving four years for stealing, Dennis (Giamatti) returns home to find that his wife Therese has told his daughter Michi he has died of cancer. He also discovers his old friend and former accomplice Rene (Rudd) is in a relationship with his ex.
Dennis has a brief fit of rage at Therese and later lands one punch on Rene. Homeless and desperate for work as there is a recession, he reluctantly asks Rene if he can go with him to sell Christmas trees in New York City. Dennis wants to make enough money to buy his estranged daughter the piano she has always wanted.
In Brooklyn, Dennis gets thrown out of a café and the following day has an altercation with another tree salesman. Finally Olga, a Russian-born woman, buys the first tree and they gradually start hustling and moving their trees.
Olga asks Dennis to straighten the tree as an excuse, to the house where she cleans for a couple of dentists, offering him food and a shower. The next day the men are hit with a tree selling rush. Amidst the sales, Rene's wife Marie calls, letting him know she wants him to sign the divorce papers. Upset, he takes off for a few days, so Dennis is left in charge.
When Rene reappears, he has an engagement ring for Therese. Dennis becomes irate, telling two guys looking to buy a tree that his friend stole his wife from him while he was in prison. He becomes inspired to call his ex collect, but she does not accept the charges. Distraught, he visits Olga the next day and asks her to help him find his daughter a piano.
Olga visits them at their tree-selling lot with vodka, and she, Rene, Dennis and Nzomo, an African who had helped with the tree selling, drink through the night. The next day, as Dennis and Rene are robbed by a supposedly blind man who had bought a tree from them, Dennis convinces Olga to help them take the dentists' Steinway.
Returning to their small Quebec town, Dennis watches from a distance as Michi plays her new piano, then hugs her mom and Rene happily.
