Almost Christmas Blu-ray Review
Mathew Plale
March 30th, 2017
As told by the opening montage (set to the Four Tops’ “Ain’t No Woman (Like the One I Got)”), the Meyers household has typically been one of joy, commotion and movement, even as the kids got older. And then came grandchildren, thus relaunching the cycle. Christmas, as it often can be, was the jewel of the year.
This will be the first year that the family matriarch will not be around, having died a few months earlier. That leaves patriarch Walter (Danny Glover, in one of six movies released in 2016) to organize the festivities and muck up the house-famous sweet potato pie. There are other concerns on the horizon, like whether or not sisters Cheryl (Kimberly Elise, the VH1 series HIT THE FLOOR) and Rachel (Gabrielle Union, Chris Rock’s TOP FIVE) will get along, if son Christian (Romany Malco, WHEN THE BOUGH BREAKS) can juggle family time and his run for congress and how superstar athlete son Evan (Jessie Usher, INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE) will handle his apparent drug dependency.
And then there is the boisterous Aunt May (Mo’Nique, HBO’s BESSIE), the slick, fast-talking Lonnie (J.B. Smoove, BARBERSHOP: THE NEXT CUT) and—wait, who are we leaving out here? There are a lot of characters here (the poster alone features 11 smiling faces) and they all get their moment, although some tend to steal the scene more than others, like Mo’Nique, who chews it up and gets the most attention simply by being the loudest.
Material is set on the table that covers both comedy and drama, which often come consecutively, resulting in a tug-of-war of emotions. At one point, a scene goes from inane gags about bad food to bitter jabs about divorce to a tension-breaking “dab” to a strict demand for apology. This is one of the many poorly executed scenes in which it’s not quite clear what the movie intends to be. It has comedy and drama, sure, but there’s no balance it never grabs hold of the potential emotions such moments could have.
The extensive cast and potential for laugh-out-loud catastrophes will surely attract its target audience, who may not mind that everything one would expect to happen in such a movie happens in ALMOST CHRISTMAS. There are quarreling siblings, faulty Christmas decorations, family football games, impromptu kitchen-dancing, rekindled bonds, tear-inducing memories, dinnertime revelations, etc. etc. Again, the intended viewership likely won’t care because this is what they bought a ticket to see.
For those that are more mindful and less distracted by clutter, ALMOST CHRISTMAS is, from start to finish, a terribly hollow and predictable effort. Writer/director David E. Talbert (2013’s BAGGAGE CLAIM, which had a mere nine people on its poster) makes nearly no effort to make his family Christmas movie stand out from the rest. There is nothing remarkable here and certainly nothing that hasn’t been done. It’s the same one-note characters committing the same irritating habits occupying the same two-story suburban house.
BLU-RAY REVIEW
Video: 2.40:1 in 1080p with MPEG-4 AVC codec. The video transfer has nice details and clean colors for the duration.
Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1; English DVS Dolby Digital 2.0; Spanish DTS Digital Surround 5.1; French DTS Digital Surround 5.1. Dialogue and music come through without any significant faults.
Feature commentary with director David E. Talbert, editor Troy Takaki and apprentice editor Gene Lewis Jr.: The trio covers the basics and give an overall easygoing track.
Aunt May Unplugged (6:08) offers a compilation of Aunt May moments.
Home for the Holidays (18:32): There are five pieces here, which can be viewed separately or as a whole. They are: “Meet the Family,” “Fun on Set,” “Coming Home,” “The ATL!” and “Composing CHRISTMAS.”
The Director Diaries (4:26): Talbert briefly guides viewers through the filmmaking process.
Walter Meyers’ Sweet Potato Pie (2:09): Danny Glover, who played Walter, shares his thoughts on his own personal sweet potato pie expertise.
My Favorite Scene Is… (4:24): Various cast members share their favorite scenes.
Working with Actors (2:19): Talbert discusses one of the most important elements of his job.
Even More Gags (3:10): A gag reel.
