I encounter something a little more traditional with 2016’s Almost Christmas, another of those ‘dysfunctional family reunion’ movies filled with all-star talent. Danny Glover is the tired, recently bereaved patriarch Walter, trying to control all the family chaos going on around him and you can bet your sweet Christmas stockings that he will eventually complain that he’s “gettin’ too old for this shit.” I can’t remember a time that Danny wasn’t gettin’ too old for this shit, but I’m glad he’s still with us.
Feeling sad and lonely, Walter invites his grown-up children and their families over to try and recapture some of that holiday magic, though of course, they don’t get along and are each saddled with their own troublesome issues. It’s not a great film and its inclusion on a ‘best ever’ Christmas movie list confuses me, but it definitely contains plenty of amusing moments and enough entertainment to make it worthwhile.
Christmas is finally almost upon us and I’m glad to be watching some relatively light-hearted fare, as it’s been a bugger of a few days. We’ve been getting new carpet put down which has involved a lot of heavy lifting and a fair bit of heated squabbling. With all the upheaval we, criminally, haven’t yet been able to put up the Christmas decorations, even with Christmas only ten days away. It doesn't feel festive enough in the house, so a movie about a traditional family holiday, especially after a few dark horror films, feels like blessed relief. To be honest, it’s also good fun to watch some other families fall out with each other after just about patching things up with mine.
And what a colourful cast of characters this is - Romany Malco is eldest son Christian, who’s running for state governor and can’t quite leave his work behind for a few days. Youngest son Evan (Jessie T. Usher) is about to be drafted into the NFL but is secretly struggling with a painkiller addiction. Daughter Rachel (Gabrielle Union) has money woes and man trouble but looks forward to a successful future as a lawyer. Other daughter Sonya (Nicole Ari Parker) is overly critical of her sister but may not be as perfect as she wants everyone to think. She’s brought along her sleazy husband Lonnie (J.B. Smoove), a washed-up NBA player who comically approaches life as though he’s a much bigger deal than he really is, with a wandering eye when it comes to the ladies.
Rounding things off is Walter’s brassy sister-in-law May, riotously played by Mo’Nique who rivals Smoove in the humorous stealing-the-show stakes. She’s loud, crude but charismatic and can boast that she was once a backing singer for pretty much every rock or soul legend ever from Stevie Wonder to the Rolling Stones, so you can bet there will be music.
As expected, everyone will fall out with each other, there will be revelations, reunions and soul searching before the warm, snuggly yuletide climax. A lot of it is good fun but much is needlessly overwrought. I’d watch a film with Mo’Nique shouting and swearing all day and it’s a laugh to watch Lonnie sweat when Rachel invites one of his sexual conquests to family dinner just to embarrass his clueless wife.
This one tries a little too hard to be both a comic farce and a solemn examination of grief and, more often than not, the tone feels slightly off. Still, it's solid, with lots going on and some great actors doing sturdy work. It’s dependably, even satisfyingly predictable and does exactly what it says on the tin. It’s, y’know…a Christmas film.
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