Actor-executive producer Delroy Lindo in This Christmas (Screen Gems)
Actor Delroy Lindo anchors the film although he doesn't dominate the screen time. He's probably most familiar to audiences for his supporting roles as assorted tough guys on both sides of the law in films such as Clockers, Heist, Get Shorty and Gone in Sixty Seconds . But he may have had to executive produce this film in order to get a role that casts him in a different light. As Joe Black in This Christmas , Lindo gets to show a gentler, more romantic side and be a family man to boot.
Joe lives with Ma'Dere Whitfield (Loretta Devine), but every Christmas when the family comes home, he has to temporarily move out because the divorced Ma'Dere hasn't yet been able to break the news to her mostly full grown children that she and Joe are in love and living together. But that's just one of many family secrets that's about to be exposed this holiday season. Ma'Dere has one daughter (Regina King) stuck in a bad marriage; another (Sharon Leal) who can't settle down; a wayward son (Idris Elba) returning home for the first time in years; and a young son (Chris Brown) who secretly aspires to a singing career. And that's just grazing the surface.
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Chris Brown in This Christmas (Screen Gems)
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Writer-director Preston Whitmore II delivers a family film that proves to be more even-keeled than Tyler Perry's works but also one that has a less distinct voice. Whitmore keeps a breezy pace and maintains a happy balance between comedy and drama. He manages to quickly sketch each of the large Whitfield family with enough personality so that they come across as individuals. Despite bickering and secrets, we sense that this is a family that cares deeply about each other.
The film benefits from a solid cast starting with Lindo's steadfast Joe. Lindo delivers a low-key performance but one that radiates a strength that comes from a man who is content with who he is and where he is in life. Lindo is one of those actors who has established himself as a fine performer but who's never really had a breakout starring role. This Christmas still isn't that star vehicle but it does let Lindo stretch his talent a little. Devine, who was so enjoyable in Waiting to Exhale , makes an appealing matriarch. Chris Brown scores the biggest squeals from the teenage girls in the audience, and he reveals some fine singing as the baby of the Whitfield family. But Regina King scores the biggest laughs as a desperate wife who finally strikes back at her heel of a husband. Her inspired use of baby oil brought down the house.
This Christmas (rated PG-13 for brief violence and some sexual content) is enjoyable family fare. My biggest complaint is that the film ultimately serves up a fairly conventional family tale. But there's an appealing bouyancy to the film and the family's impromptu dance at the end is likely to leave you smiling.
Companion viewing: Diary of a Mad Black Woman, Waiting to Exhale, Heist
