Holiday season heats up
with ‘This Christmas’

At the Movies
By Senitra Horbrook

For many, the holidays are about food and family. There’s probably some wondering who will and who won’t show up for dinner. These kinds of families also usually have a troublemaker or two. It’s no different for the Whitfields, the family depicted in This Christmas.
It is a nice family film for the holiday season, although at times it feels more like a television soap opera than a movie. Many of the dramatic situations felt fabricated and over the top. A little more realism would have done This Christmas a lot of good.
I don’t want to give away too much of the plot, but pretty much everyone has a secret that will be revealed during the course of the movie. Some of the drama includes an interracial marriage revealed, a divorce filed and two sisters fighting in the rain when the Whitfields get together for the first time in four years at Ma’Dere’s (short for Mother Dear, played by Lorretta Devine) home for Christmas.
Of course, it’s not all drama and tears. There’s plenty of holiday cheer when the cast gets to show off their best moves on the makeshift dance floor (the living room) during two "Soul Train line" scenes. The smorgasbord of soul food looks appetizing too.
This Christmas is an ensemble movie where each cast member has a story and pretty much gets equal time to shine. I’d have to say that Chris Brown stands out the most. He’s a novice actor, known for his singing and a hit song on the charts right now. While Brown does get to showcase his voice a few times (his rendition of Try a Little Tenderness is quite moving), he steps up to the plate when it comes to playing Baby, a conflicted teenager who’s scared to tell his mother he wants to pursue a singing career.
Another character the audience will root for is Lisa, played by Regina King (Jerry Maguire, Ray). Lisa’s husband not only is controlling (she has to cut his food before he can eat it) but he’s also cheating on her. The audience at a recent screening was quite vocal when Lisa got revenge on her slimy husband.
Aside from Devine, King and Brown, other cast members include Sharon Leal (Dreamgirls), Idris Elba (The Wire), Columbus Short (Stomp the Yard), Mehki Phifer (currently on ER), Delroy Lindo (Malcolm X) and Lauren London (ATL). If the names don’t sound all that familiar, their faces will probably ring a bell after a viewing of the trailer for This Christmas.
I found myself thinking that writer/director Preston A. Whitmore II (Crossover) should have changed the setting to a colder locale. The movie is set in California, so there’s no snow. I know it’s a small detail, but to me, it doesn’t quite feel like a Christmas movie without a little snow on the ground.
Small details aside, there aren’t a lot of Christmas movies featuring a black family — actually, the only one that comes to mind is the upcoming The Perfect Holiday with Queen Latifah — so This Christmas is a rarity.
At times, I wished This Christmas wasn’t so melodramatic, but overall the characters are endearing and look out for each other in times of need, making them no different from any other kind of loving and supportive family.
Movie Grade: B+