When I see posters for movies like this gracing the subway platform in New York City or billboards in Los Angeles along Sunset Boulevard, the first thing that comes to my mind is "No, not another one." They seem generic and often one dimensional, and the families to be quite honest are not all that interesting. This follows several traditions in these types of films: a loving adult figure (in this case divorced matriarch Loretta Devine) and her brood of children (still holding onto many resentments and judgments), not seeing eye to eye on certain issues. Some are easier going than the others, yet their problems can only be fixed by the tender love and care of the woman who gave them birth and a Christmas miracle.
For me, Devine is the whole show, having gone on with her life after her husband left, and now secretly living with a man (Delroy Lindo) "in sin" (which shocks some of the children and angers oldest son Idris Elba. The baby, Chris Brown, looks up to Lindo, and doesn't want to leave home, and with the love and care of Devine, why would he? Brown wants to be a singer but is afraid of letting his mother know, and two of the sisters seem to be rivals since one went to Princeton and the other not as goal oriented which sets up an interesting rivalry.
The basic plot surrounds the fight over Devine's continued ownership of a dry cleaning establishment which has made it possible for them to live in an upper middle class neighborhood, a la "A Raisin in the Sun". The brood is torn over whether she should sell and downsize or continue to working hard to stay there. They don't even consult her which indicates that some of them are trying to be a little too controlling of their mother's future and her own ideas for her life. Young Chris Brown is surprisingly good as the talented younger brother, actually impressing his siblings when they catch him in his act.
I enjoyed this film but felt suspect of the motives of some of the brood, yet in soap opera terms, this is a good example of why most large families don't always get along or keep in touch after everyone goes their own way. It's implied that some of the family hasn't visited in several years, let alone keep in touch with them outside the mother. So while this could have been rather pedestrian, I found a lot of things to enjoy but two hours just isn't enough to resolve every issue that this family has tucked inside the junk in their trunk.
For me, Devine is the whole show, having gone on with her life after her husband left, and now secretly living with a man (Delroy Lindo) "in sin" (which shocks some of the children and angers oldest son Idris Elba. The baby, Chris Brown, looks up to Lindo, and doesn't want to leave home, and with the love and care of Devine, why would he? Brown wants to be a singer but is afraid of letting his mother know, and two of the sisters seem to be rivals since one went to Princeton and the other not as goal oriented which sets up an interesting rivalry.
The basic plot surrounds the fight over Devine's continued ownership of a dry cleaning establishment which has made it possible for them to live in an upper middle class neighborhood, a la "A Raisin in the Sun". The brood is torn over whether she should sell and downsize or continue to working hard to stay there. They don't even consult her which indicates that some of them are trying to be a little too controlling of their mother's future and her own ideas for her life. Young Chris Brown is surprisingly good as the talented younger brother, actually impressing his siblings when they catch him in his act.
I enjoyed this film but felt suspect of the motives of some of the brood, yet in soap opera terms, this is a good example of why most large families don't always get along or keep in touch after everyone goes their own way. It's implied that some of the family hasn't visited in several years, let alone keep in touch with them outside the mother. So while this could have been rather pedestrian, I found a lot of things to enjoy but two hours just isn't enough to resolve every issue that this family has tucked inside the junk in their trunk.