the big gift

Streaming Sleepers: THE BIG GIFT Rewards You With Holiday-Filled Comedy Beat ‘Em Up Thrills

The holidays are just around the corner, folks! Alas, a shorthand push is ordered here for Jarrod Crook’s latest action comedy, The Big Gift. The film landed on Prime for a while and only recently made its debut via free ad-supported streaming service, Tubi. An unemployed father must do whatever he can to ensure his son receives the gift he wants for Christmas, even if it means battling it out with Santa. Crooks directed from a script he co-wrote with co-star Erin Antilla. I was allowed a screener at one point a few years ago and my subsequent review thusly reads in part with the following: Light-hearted, warm, and with a solemn, introspective message that doesn’t get lost on the viewer amidst the spectacle, The Big Gift marks another return to form for Crooks who deserves more ceremony and coverage than he gets. With The Big Gift, Crooks gets a […]

THE BIG GIFT Review: Jarrod Crooks Battles A Beefy, Superpowered Santa To Save Christmas

Lee B. Golden III

Wisconsin-based Jarrod Crooks has well over fifteen years on his belt as an independent up-and-comer in acting in, as well as directing or co-directing his variety of projects in both short and long form. He’s been keeping up the habit in the last decade as well, especially with action comedies like 2014’s Dispatched and a few years later with co-helmer Gregory Kuper’s Indie Guys, which I managed to see upon Crooks reaching out to me back in 2017, and which served as an abundantly pleasing introduction to his work going forward. To that end, Crooks is now planning a December screening of his latest completed work, The Big Gift. Crooks directed the film in addition to starring from a script he wrote together with co-writer/producer Erin Antilla, this time jumping into a more holiday-themed platform for his style of action and comedy direction with an interesting revisionist take on Santa […]

THE BIG GIFT: Jarrod Crooks Wages War On Santa In The Official Trailer

Lee B. Golden III

Wisconsin local Jarrod Crooks stands to be one of the most unsung heroes of independent action cinema to this day. He’s cut from the same creative cloth as a lot of the cinematic action artists and stunt performers this site and many others have covered and as it stands, I’m just glad to see he’s still at it. His latest is ramping up the holiday spirit with The Big Gift, which he directed from his own script, and packages with another humble indie-made allotment comprised of romance and comedy, peppered with the same level of impressive, inspired action and stuntwork that’s fueled much of Crooks’s filmmaking stride to this day. In JC films “The Big Gift” is a feature length film about an out of work dad, Chris, who does everything possible to buy his son the perfect Christmas gift; it is the gift he has been longing for…the BIG […]