Film

What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases

Get 2 for 1 cinema tickets with Orange Click Here

Search cinema listings

Browse cinemas A-Z

Search 20,000 reviews

 

The Perfect Holiday (2007)

Director: Lance Rivera

2
Average user rating
2 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out New York

Billed as the “first African-American ensemble comedy for the Christmas season” (apparently the current This Christmas, Ice Cube’s Friday After Next and the Denzel Washington–Whitney Houston vehicle The Preacher’s Wife don’t count), Lance Rivera’s flabby holiday fare is an uninspired mix of treacle, romantic mix-ups and stale gags. Singer-songwriter Benjamin (Chestnut) is so broke that he’s playing Santa at the Jersey Gardens mall for rent money. Single mom Nancy (Union) is financially secure, but between raising three youngsters and fighting with her ex, she’s too drained for romance.

While on a family shopping outing, Nancy’s youngest asks Santa to make her mommy happy for the holidays—all it would take is a compliment from a nice man. Benjamin, who can’t help but notice that Mom is a fox, complies, setting the stage for clichéd romantic complications abetted by Nancy’s best girlfriends and a pair of feuding holiday spirits (Latifah, Terrence Howard—he’s naughty, she’s nice) who lurk around the story’s periphery in a variety of disguises, some of them downright creepy. It’s all formulaic and eminently forgettable, except for the image of Howard dressed as a child and whining that he needs to make dookie.

Author: Maitland McDonagh 2007-12-11 19:12:38

Time Out New York Issue 637.638: December 13–26, 2007


  • Print this page
  • Send to a friend
Get 2 for 1 cinema tickets with Orange Click Here

User reviews of this film

What do you think?
Post your review now

clear rating
Min 1 star. Zero stars will be treated as unrated.

*mandatory fields





Top Stories

Ang Lee talks 'Taking Woodstock'

Ang Lee talks 'Taking Woodstock'

Ang Lee talks to Tom Huddleston about his tale of the men behind history’s greatest music festival

Hippies who work for The Man

Hippies who work for The Man

To celebrate George Clooney comedy 'The Men who Stare at Goats', we look back at six memorable onscreen hippies who fought the system from within

Roland Emmerich's guide to disaster movies

Roland Emmerich's guide to disaster movies

Ahead of the release of '2012', Roland Emmerich offers his ten tips on creating the perfect global catastrophe

Grant Heslov: interview

Grant Heslov: interview

Grant Heslov, director of 'The Men who Stare at Goats' talks about his old pal George Clooney, his interest in the paranormal, and his fond memories of working on 'Happy Days'

The Coen brothers discuss 'A Serious Man'

The Coen brothers discuss 'A Serious Man'

Masters of contrary comedy, Joel and Ethan Coen have struck gold again with their latest, ‘A Serious Man’

Ten inspirations behind 'Avatar'?

Ten inspirations behind 'Avatar'?

Time Out ponders the influences behind James Cameron's anticipated space-opera on the basis of the trailer

Michael Haneke: The man behind the menace

Michael Haneke: The man behind the menace

From Cannes to Munich to London, Dave Calhoun tours Michael Haneke's Palme d'Or winner, 'The White Ribbon'

How Jane Campion brought John Keats back to life

How Jane Campion brought John Keats back to life

Time Out gets Romantic with the ‘difficult’ New Zealander about her new film, 'Bright Star'

Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam

Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam

In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations