The Perfect Holiday (2007)

The movie was a great movie. Was it predictable? Yes all family movies are. It's wasn't a mystery or action flick. But it was very good. Morris Chestnut was good. There was just enough comic relief to make some parts funny. I liked the way they really focused on the older son's dislike of the "new guy" in his mother's life. The supporting cast members were very good. Lots of stars with little roles that made me laugh. They showed a lot of depth in the characters. Queen Latifah, Katt Williams, among others were great! If you are looking for a nice wholesome feel good movie. This is the one for you! Not Oscar worthy but definitely a good DVD Christmas movie.

The Perfect Holiday is not necessarily a bad movie but its far from a great one too. While I admire a movie that does not try to be offensive and wants to be positive there is a thin line from being a little schmaltzy to laying it on real thick. The movie is not unwatchable. It has a talented all-star cast that do a decent job acting but the script is hackneyed and cheesy to a fault plus its pretty bland.Spoiler Alert! The story: Gabriell Union plays Nancy, a newly divorced woman who's daughter overhears her conversation about what she wants from a man: a compliment. The daughter goes to a mall Santa(played by Morris Chestnut) named Benjamin and wishes that her mom gets a compliment by her man. Benjamin(Chestnut) gives Nancy a compliment and soon they begin to date. Problems arise when Nancy's naive son, John John gets annoyed by Benjamin because the little tyke misses his arrogant and thoughtless wannabe-rapper father J-Jizzy(played by Charlie Murphy)who would rather be large than be with his family. Then things get even more complicated for the relationship between Nancy and Benjamin when J-Jizzy asks for Benjamin, who also sings to record with him. Queen Latifah plays Mrs Christmas, an angel who is also the narrator of the movie.Opinion: Positive: this movie is not terrible. Negative: but its not memorable either. Positive: it has an all-star cast. Negative: they are all wasted on a script that pulls every Christmas cliché out of the book. Positive: The Perfect Holiday is earnest and has a heart. Negative: its syrupy to the point of cheesiness. Positive: it makes an effort at humor. Negative: The humor misses more than it hits. Positive: Its the least offensive Christmas comedy ever made. Negative: It wallows in mediocrity like pigs do in mud. Positive: Its great to see a movie especially an African-American film that is not based on sex and violence. Negative: Its kind of bland and the schmaltzy scenes are a bit much. All in all I would recommend this movie to you if you want to see a Christmas movie starring African Americans that is not offensive but Last Holiday and This Christmas are much better. Perfect Holiday is far from a stinker but when compared to great movies like This Christmas Soul Food, The Wood, The Inkwell, Love Jones, Brown Sugar etc Perfect Holiday can easily be forgotten.

This movie was OK, probably the best thing I liked was the Perfect Christmas song in it. I'd like to hear that song on the radio. In this movie, Queen Latiefa plays the narrator role: maybe an angel since she uses a little magic. She introduces the story of a song writer Benjamin, whom is trying to get a dead with record star Jizzy. To make money in the mean time, he is a mall Santa. Next comes Jizzy's ex wife, Nancy, and her kids. The kids tell Santa, aka Ben, that their mom needs a complement. So, Ben takes it on himself to find a way to introduce himself. Nancy tries to track him down and two meet again and start dating. Nancy's oldest son John John dislikes Ben and plays pranks; however, Ben knows about them in advance because the other kids tell Santa what's going down. Eventually, Ben gets a call from Jizzy about liking the song he wrote and then he finds out Nancy is his ex, which leads to complications. But being a kid film, you know it will work out in the end.FINAL VERDICT: Kids will probably enjoy this more. There's just not much to the plot.

Queen Latifah is the reason we attended the advance screening of PERFECT HOLIDAY in our area. If she is your only reason for viewing this movie, you might be as disappointed as we were. My husband would have bolted after 15 minutes, but in deference to me, he sat through the entire movie. He did laugh once, towards the end of the movie, at a cryptic comment uttered by Terrence Howard's character in front of a closed outlet mall. I won't spoil the movie for you by telling you the line, but you will probably laugh, too. Speaking of Terrence Howard, he must have owed Queen Latifah BIG TIME to appear in this movie, especially as the humbug to her holiday.The movie has some warm, touching moments, with a little bit (very little bit) of comedy and (more than a little bit) love. It is just too bland and average to warrant a night out, especially at today's ticket prices. Wait for the DVD, or better yet, wait for cable (unless you really have to see the Queen). Please don't spoil your perfect holidays by going out of your way to see this movie.