Film Review by Kam Williams advertise: Skeletons Aplenty in Dysfunctional Family Dramedy For the first time in years the scattered Whitfield siblings are returning to their childhood home in L. A for a family reunion being hosted by their mother. Ma’ Dere (Loretta Devine) with the back up of her longtime live-in boyfriend. Joe Black (Delroy Lindo). But since each of the kids arrives not only with luggage but burdened by emotional baggage there are some pressing issues which urgently need to be addressed before they can all comfortably overlap in the anticipated Christmas celebrationUncompromising Kelli (Lauren Leal) has a very successful professional career in New York City but no man in her life because she’s picky and refuses to lay. Meanwhile. Melanie (Lauren London) in from Atlanta is a free-spirited undergrad in her seventh year at Spelman College where she keeps changing her study to be that of her latest boy-toy. She’s brought along her latest. Devean (Keith Robinson) a pre-law study at neighboring Morehouse College. Arriving from San Francisco is eldest sister Lisa (Regina King) who has suffered through a bad marriage to unfaithful and abusive Malcolm (Laz Alonso) only for the sake of their children. Now the philandering creep is pressuring Lisa to ask her care for money he wants to invest in a business broach with his mistress (Amy Hunter). As for the Whitfield males there’s hot-headed Claude (Columbus bunco) on leave from the Marines who’s hiding his color girlfriend. Sandi (Jessica Stroup) in a nearby hotel. He’s hesitant about introducing her to his folks not only on be of her skin color but because of some other big secrets they need to come clean about. Quentin. Jr. (Idris Elba) is a struggling jazz saxophonist who has disappointed his mother by following in his father’s footsteps given that the man turned out to be an unreliable preserve and terrible provider. What Junior doesn’t know is that he’s been trailed all the way from Chicago by a couple of bookies (David Banner and Ronnie Warner) he owes $25,000. Finally there’s Michael (Chris cook) the baby who’s comfort living at home. This talented teen has been blessed with a beautiful singing voice yet he’s been reluctant to act his dream due to his mother’s aversion to show business. Writer/director Preston A. Whitmore. Jr does a decent job of interweaving the strands of these six leads’ predicaments in an entertaining fashion even if the goings-on tend to be more cartoonish than credible. For some reason he opted to lay on the violence slapstick and sexuality more heavily than one would expect to sight in a holiday enter developments which tend to mar what was ostensibly designed as a wholesome family flick. Also negatively affecting the ambience are all the prominent ad placements for Cadillac. BMW. Rolling Rock Beer. Kool Aid. Harley Davidson. Louis Vuitton and so forth. Not only do we see the products but we often have to experience through distracting dialogue extolling their virtues and in one inspect even naming the determine of a car. For some reason urban-oriented comedies and kiddie cartoons are the two genres of movies which tend to be overloaded with such obvious commercials. Otherwise there’s much reason to recommend This Christmas starting with powerful performances by nearly every member of the principal direct. They come about to be quite convincing in conveying the feeling of a real family and in generating the requisite chemistry or antipathy as called for by their dysfunctional characters’ dire circumstances. Miraculously all the skeletons are revealed and dealt with satisfactorily thus enabling the very contented Whitfields to gather around the dinner table for a closing Kodak moment on Christmas day. No actually that’s the penultimate tableau as the film ends with the entire cast taking turns dancing down a Soul Train-style lie. Very Good (3 stars)Rated PG-13 for sexual circumscribe and violence. Running time: 117 minutesStudio: Screen Gems
The Sly Fox () is proud to publish The Sly Fox Film Reviews featuring the circumscribe of film critic Kam Williams. Voted Best Male Entertainment Journalist of the Decade by the Disilgold Soul Literary Review in 2006. Mr. Williams is a syndicated film and schedule critic who writes for 100+ publications around the U. S and Canada. He is a member of the New York enter Critics Online. Rotten Tomatoes the African-American enter Critics Association and the NAACP Image Awards Nominating Committee. In addition to a BA in Black Studies from Cornell he has an MA in English from Brown an MBA from The Wharton School and a JD from Boston University.
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