Anyone who has a large family will likely tell you that the holidays can be a mixed blessing. That's because while it's always nice to have everyone together in one place -- especially in today's fractured, always on the go environment where such total gatherings are often limited to just weddings and funerals -- the increased number of personalities and varied relationships between family members can create anything ranging from simple discord to actual physical confrontations.
Since most anything that occurs in real life is fodder for cinematic adaptations, such familial gatherings have long been the staple of holiday films. The latest example is "This Christmas," an ordinary dramedy that brings little to nothing new to the table beyond featuring an almost entirely African-American cast.
While it's nice to see an everyday representation of people of color (since that doesn't oft appear in the movies), it's thus surprising that writer/director Preston A. Whitmore II does dip into stereotypes, such as sassy black women, and the inevitable and apparently required group dance scene (during which, a black reviewer and friend of mine looked over and gave me the "See, I told you so" look since he long ago noted all such flicks include such moments).
What's more surprising, is that it occurs not once, but twice, and thus makes it seem as if the filmmaker felt extra pressure to try to appease such stereotypical expectations. Coupled with a complete (and long) club version of "Try a Little Tenderness" and just about every Christmas song known to man (most of which are layered in between or over scenes to help drive home the subject matter or thematic elements at play), and the nasty notion of filler certainly can't help but come to mind.
As will most any Tyler Perry film since this one pretty much plays out exactly like one of that wildly successful filmmaker's efforts. Beyond the overall racial makeup of the cast, there are those racial stereotypes of black men and women and how they get along -- or not -- with each other and family members. Throw in some cheating, some angry women, various bits of dramedy and some pathos, and the next thing you know, you get the feeling that Madea is gonna come storming into the kitchen to speak her mind and kick some booty when and where necessary.
That doesn't mean the film is bad, but just that it feels overly familiar, not only from that overall aspect, but also the family gathering over the holidays angle. Thankfully, and notwithstanding some of those stereotypes and how they occasionally seep into the acting, what generally saves the film are the performances.
While Loretta Divine is starting to get pigeonholed in such roles (the happy but sometimes exasperated matriarch), Delroy Lindo is as good as ever playing her boyfriend. Idris Elba is decent as the troubled oldest son, and -- depending on one's sense of humor -- David Banner and Ronnie Warner may or may not deliver the goods as some comic relief styled thugs who are after him for monies owed.
Columbus Short is less successful as an AWOL Marine simply because his sub-story feels a bit too contrived in terms of complications and such. Laz Alonzo inhabits the standard-issue Perry type bad husband, while the casting of and interaction between Regina King, Sharon Leal and Lauren London as sisters is convincing.
Decent, but nothing novel or memorable, the film just feels like another holiday gathering that blends in with the rest. You might enjoy yourself enough to get through it, but you won't remember much about it by the next time the next one rolls around. "This Christmas" rates as a 5 out of 10.
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