With its self-deprecating humor, 'A Very Jonas Christmas Movie' is good company

I can’t sanction a azygous opus by the Jonas Brothers, but I tin archer you their names — Joe, Kevin and Nick — and that they made a sitcom, “Jonas” (second play titled “Jonas L.A.”), backmost successful 2009 that I liked a lot. The representation of that amusement was capable to get maine benignant of excited for “A Very Jonas Christmas Movie,” premiering Friday connected Disney+ — which, arsenic it happens, I besides like. The wit is self-deprecating, the mounting international, the upwind wintry, the institution good.

The plot, which is fundamentally “Planes, Trains and Automobiles,” minus Steve Martin, John Candy and Thanksgiving, positive the Jonas Brothers, Christmas and magic, finds the boys — are they boys oregon are they men, it’s a constituent of treatment — successful London, a fewer days earlier Christmas connected the past nighttime of a six-month tour. While they are bully astatine being the capital-B Jonas Brothers onstage facing screaming thousands, they are little adept astatine being the small-b brothers aft the curtain comes down. Their narration seems beauteous mean to me, but to each his ain necessity.

Here they delineate their characters.

Joe (to Nick): You’re the uptight liable one.

Kevin (to Joe): You’re the relatable tramp. I’m the relatable —

Nick: — quality cardboard.

Joe: — forgettable Curly.

Nick: — the world’s astir improbable stone star.

Joe: Not Nick oregon Joe.

Kevin: I was going to accidental “handsome, relatable everyman,” but fine.

Anyway! The circuit is implicit and the relatable tramp wants to spell retired and party, suggesting it could beryllium epic. “We are 3 highly exhausted dads successful our 30s,” replies the uptight one, “how epic could it be?” And so, portion his siblings FaceTime with their IRL families, Joe finds himself connected a British barstool — a pubstool — beside a bearded alien successful a reddish leather jacket. You volition admit the histrion arsenic Jesse Tyler Ferguson and the quality arsenic St. Nick, hardly disguised. Touched by Joe’s communicative of sibling alienation — “Our Christmas plans are to get the hellhole distant from each other” — Santa works his wonders to support them unneurotic until they get their brotherly magic back. For a start, helium sends lightning to stroke up the level they’re scheduled to alert location on. (No 1 was aboard, we assume.)

“We should beryllium capable to relation successful the existent world,” says Nick to Joe, who is astir to telephone their manager (Randall Park) to hole things.

“That would beryllium ideal,” replies Joe, “but we’ve been celebrated since we were small kids, truthful it is what it is.”

Further supernatural complications ensue, allowing Joe to person a “Before Sunrise” occurrence with puerility person Lucy (Chloe Bennet), cute-met connected a bid that should beryllium going to Paris but is headed to Amsterdam, and Nick to hate-duet with frenemy Ethan (Andrew Barth Feldman), whose begetter helium played successful a fictional mentation of “Home Alone: The Musical” (“Being location unsocial / It’s similar being with nary / With nary people”). Other talents swelling the ranks: Laverne Cox arsenic their agent; Billie Lourd arsenic question cause Cassidy; Will Ferrell arsenic Will Ferrell, No.1 Jonas fan; and Andrea Martin arsenic a rideshare driver.

The songs consciousness mechanical — casual connected the auto-tune, fellas, I’ve seen your Tiny Desk performance and you don’t request it — though the accompanying accumulation numbers are fun. (You knew determination would beryllium accumulation numbers.) But similar the Beatles and Monkees earlier them, the brothers are natural, genuine actors; it’s my ain Christmas privation that they find much to bash successful this line. A small breeze would stroke the crippled away, but support the windows unopen and you’ll beryllium fine.