This Christmas, That Movie

"This Christmas" is a film originally released in 2007. Given its holiday theme, it is making the rounds of every cable movie network right now. Over the Thanksgiving weekend, I ran into it so many times I felt I was on a bumper car ride in Compton. Eventually, I watched it in its entirity.

And, well, shut my mouth. I liked it. Go figger....

I'd say this movie is really nothing more than "Love Actually" set in one of the nicer sections of South Central LA. It tells the story of one Christmas gathering in the life of some Black family that resembled the Huxtables. Except all the kids were older and had their own lives. Dad's already been dispatched to either heaven or jail. And Mom, played by Loretta Devine, is carrying on. With a new feller to boot. As luck would have it, he's a preacher man. Aw, shucks. You can't help but like him. But, as the cookie cutter script would dictate, none of the kids do. Yet.

Mom's nickname is "Ma'Dere." Two of the sons are nicknamed "Baby" and "Junior." None of them are explained or make any sense. But, they're not supposed to. Since cliches were obviously on sale at Walmart, they are abundant with the Whitfield family. One son is a criminal. One daughter is a high-powered executive from NY and looking for love. Another son is headed to battle in either Iraq or Minnesota---it's never really clarified. He's brought home his new young wife who happens to be White. Another son wants to be a singer, which is convenient because that role is played by rap star Chris Brown. Of course, Mom, I mean Ma'Dere, doesn't want him to be a musician since Dad was and he turned out to be a piece of shit. Another daughter knows her shifty hubby is cheating and she is seeking retaliation. Eventually, you lose track of the storylines and the kids. The only thing you realize is that Ma'Dere was probably lying on her back for one decade straight. More people left her uterus than did commuters during rush hour at Grand Central Station.

But, still, I liked it. Go figger.

Amidst all the soap opera and the drama, enough heartstrings are pulled and enough plots are neatly tied up that there is absolutely no way that the Whitfields won't be toasting with egg nog by the final reel. Somehow, someway, it all works.

Amazingly, there are several scenes that are absolutely electric. Chris Brown's renditions of "Try a Little Tenderness" and the title song are riveting and clearly dynamic movie moments. And the always reliable Regina King, quite good as the cheated-on wife, gets her revenge on her slimebucket of a husband in a delicious way. I won't spoil it but she uses a belt and a bottle of baby oil in a form of torture that might have come from a Yuppie version of the movie "Mandingo."

Just before the closing credits, the entire cast (including the Mexican housekeeper, but inexplicably not the new White daughter-in-law) step out of character to do a ten minute line dance that is really worth the time and your attention. It is probably one of the most infectious curtain calls ever captured on screen.

Yep, I liked "This Christmas." Go figger. Pass the collard greens.

Dinner last night: Back in LA. Had lunch on the plane, so just a salami sandwich at home.