This Christmas

I went to this movie expecting a humorous funny slapstick black comedy. I was mistaken. It was a real look into families at holiday time. It had several story lines which were interesting to follow and the actors did an excellent job in carrying them out. There was some really good humor as well but I appreciated the drama and the real look into what so many of us experience. I don't know the names of the characters but I've seen many of them before and they have done good work. You're going to love the very end(after the movie) so don't leave! Granted we all want a warm good feeling Christmas movie and this one will certainly not disappoint! The only hint I will leave is don't miss the scene with the baby oil! Go see this!

"This Christmas" is a little bit more adult than a typical Christmas movie. Fortunately, it also is not nearly as cynical as many Christmas comedies of late, while simultaneously still maintaining humor, charm, and warmth that may make it a perennial favorite in the years to come.

The plot of the film can be described in two sentences: Three brothers and three sisters return to their mother's house for Christmas, and bring with them excessive baggage from their lives. They reunite, and work through the troubles in their lives.

In terms of story, there's not a lot else to say. However, it's really what the actors here bring to their characters and how they interact with their other family members on screen that make this movie work.

Loretta Devine plays the matriarch of the Whitfield family, affectionately known as Ma'Dere to her six children. Despite being a divorcée, she does well for herself as the owner of a laundromat. Of her six children, the only one who lives with her is Michael "Baby" Whitfield (Chris Brown), who does not want to tell Ma'Dere about his aspirations to be a singer.

The other five children not only live away from home, but all of them have a story. Quentin Jr. (Idris Elba, great as always) is a saxophone player whose life on the road has prevented him from coming home for the holidays for years. On top of him holding a grudge against Ma'Dere's minister boyfriend, deacon Joe Black (Delroy Lindo), for not being his father, Quentin Jr. also owes debts to bookies. Part of the reason he's home is to hide from them.

The whole story with Quentin Jr. could take up an entire movie, but the film does well balancing most of the other siblings out. The second eldest child, Lisa (the great Regina King), is a stay-at-home Mom who decided to raise a family instead of go to college. Her sister Kelli (the beautiful Sharon Leal) did go to college, and is successful and residing in New York City.

Her other sister Mel (Lauren London) is in college, and brings her boyfriend home for the holidays. The final brother Claude (Columbus Short), who I believe is fourth eldest, is in the Marines, but is holding back a few secrets, including but not limited to a bride with whom he eloped.

So with six children, there are a lot of stories. Most of them weave together very well, and the other children's reactions to each one is really believable. However, I feel as though Mel could have been cut entirely from the story. By the time the other five subplots really got going, Mel's bringing her boyfriend home from college seemed less interesting, plus her character got pushed right to the back anyway.

I really liked the interactions between Regina King and Sharon Leal. They look nothing alike, but both acted so well in scenes together that you really thought they were sisters. There was also a lot of believability between King and Idris Elba, especially when the dynamic is played out on how she stayed near the family while he drifted as far away as you can get.

I also thought the tension and eventual resolution between Elba and Lindo was pretty believable. Lindo's character is not a bad guy, but Elba as Quentin, who knew his estranged father the best, plays his uncertainty against the new man in the house well.

As a Christmas movie, it was unique in the way it took place in Los Angeles, the location of no other Christmas movies I know. It's sunny, the grass is green, and everyone is still wearing shorts & T-shirts in the film. Every other Christmas movie shows people bundled up in heavy jackets and winter hats while snow is on the ground. It was brave of the filmmakers to show Christmas in such a geographic location. After all, many people celebrate the holiday in places where it's not so cold outside.

As a family movie, the cast clicks together so well, making the touching parts more poignant and making the funny moments even more familiar. My favorite line comes after Lisa reveals the news that brother Claude is married. When Kelli says that it's not funny, Lisa replies, "No it isn't, but I'm going to keep drinking until it is!" Classic!

"This Christmas" will inevitably be misattributed to Tyler Perry, not only because it's a movie with a predominantly African-American cast. The facts that Lindo's character is a deacon, and Devine plays a church-going, God-fearing woman, a role into which she is frequently typecast, don't help much.

Thankfully, however, Lindo, as Joe Black, doesn't shove Bibles in people's faces. He's religious, but not a moral crusader. Devine's character is also refreshingly more rounded than those she played in movies like "Kingdom Come" (2001) and "Death At A Funeral" (2010), which was basically the same character. Her blaming music on her ex-husband's abandoning her seemed a bit too myopic. It would have been more so if she had actually said so. Instead, it's speculated by others, especially Quentin Jr., which makes it a bit more credible.

The Whitfield family here could have been white, Latino, Asian, or any other ethnic group, and it still would be relatable to anyone who comes home to family they see only a few times a year. "This Christmas" has a similar charm and universality to "A Christmas Story". It may be a holiday movie you find yourself wanting to return to again next year. The same may not be said about your family.

Such a beautiful movie with beautiful different characters. they really looked like a family. felt like i was one among them too. people who need a holiday movies like "This is where i leave you", "Family Stone" & "Dan in real life". hit this movie without any second thought. you will definitely love this movie. there are no movies recently in this genre. wish we could see lot more of this kind movies in future. Family drama is really needed now a days. but its fading away slowly. this movie will hit you hard <3 iam an indian but i wish i could celebrate christmas like this every year <3 just go for it and you will love this movie for sure :)

I'm not a big moviegoer, but I do know that this movie was too full of drama to be reasonably resolved within a 2-hour window. Maybe it would have made a better novel??? The only plot that seemed to actually play through was the husband-wife scenario, but even that was rushed (though it was resolved with great humor). The movie also didn't "warm my heart" in the traditional sense of a holiday movie. I was left wondering what the true message was supposed to be??? As a side note, I took my middle school daughter and a few of her Chris-Brown-crazy friends to see this movie, and I was disappointed. I knew it was rated PG-13, but I'm convinced now more than ever that the range of PG-13 is far too wide. The movie trailers look made it look like this would be a family movie. Well, it was ABOUT family - but it definitely not FOR the family. Specifically, I was disappointed in the way the family "ideal" was portrayed. In the words of my grandmother, there was too much "shackin' up" in this movie - in fact (the viewer learns in the first few minutes of the movie), the wise, God-fearing matriarch has a live-in boyfriend who happens to be a deacon in the church. Needless to say, two of the matriarchs apples don't fall far from the tree. And since when to do one-night-stands lead to true love??? I know that this movie was not marketed as a moral movie per se, but the matriarch and live-in patriarch sure did talk a LOT of Christian talk to be living with each other and leanin' on the Lord for deliverance from their family problems. I realize that this is life - people do what they want to do. I'm just saying: don't try to do the Tyler Perry thing (add a spiritual connection) at the same time you're trying to do the Zane thing (everybody-get-their-freak-on). Just let it be one or the other, and don't sell us out with a teen-magnet like Chris brown if you're going the Zane route (and DON'T try to hide it under the "holiday film" radar)! I do hope that the film-makers remember: when you put Chris Brown into a film, you're going to attract a lot of young, impressionable girls. Be mindful of the message you're sending. I do try to support films that portray African-American families positively and I know how important that first weekend is for a new film. But, next time, I'll have to wait and see what a few of my friends say before viewing similar movies.

Saw the movie today, and LOVED IT!! Some parts were unrealistic, but that's with ALL movies! I loved the family interaction, the humor. This was a movie about the ups and downs that happen in ANY family, the secrets in ANY family, the infidelities in ANY family. The cast is outstanding. It was a wonderful role for Chris Brown (loved him), Sharon Leal is being seen more(Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married?), and Regina King is not seen often enough. I enjoyed seeing Delroy Lindo and Loretta Devine.

See it if you want, it not, then don't! Life is all about making choices.

To see or not to see, that is the question...