Gabrielle Union, Morris Chestnut, Queen Latifah, and Terrence Howard star in a film concerning a young girl who implores a department-store Santa to find a new husband for her divorced mother for Christmas. Single mother of three Nancy (Union) has been putting the needs of her three children ahead of her own for as far back as she can remember, and lately her youngest daughter, Emily (Khail Bryant), has become acutely aware of her mother's palpable sadness. As Christmas draws near, Nancy takes
her kids to the mall for a cheerful visit with jolly old Saint Nick. When it comes time for Emily's turn to sit on Santa's lap and make her Christmas wish, she selflessly remembers her mother's recent comment that a compliment from a man would be the best gift of all. Determined to make her mother happy again even if it means sacrificing her own wish, Emily relays the message to Santa (Chestnut), not realizing that the man beneath the beard is actually an office-supply salesman and ambitious singer/songwriter named Benjamin. Recognizing the daughter's love for her mother and sensing something truly special in Nancy, Benjamin cheerfully obliges the young girl, setting into motion a series of events that promise to make this the most memorable holiday in quite some time. Lance Rivera directs a film produced by Shakim Compere and Latifah through Flavor Unit Entertainment. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Despite the flabby direction and uninspired plot, The Perfect Holiday almost works because Chestnut and Union are an attractive couple and you want them to get together.
[Queen Latifah and Terrence Howard] may be a draw, but it's too bad no one thought the endearing performances in this charming (if cliché) family romance would be enough.
Jovial and junky as all get out, The Perfect Holiday is about what you'd expect from a holiday comedy daring to put 'perfect' in its title. As in anything but.
Spicing up Christmas with some savvy soul, are tough love story tour guide Queen Latifah, Terrence Howard as her sidekick mute meanie, and devilish duo Katt Williams and Charlie Murphy's J-Jizzy, doing musical bad boys with deliciously nasty glee.
Love eventually conquers all, as expected, but not before we're forced to sit through a nearly endless parade of clichés, unfunny jokes, and empty drama.
Queen Latifah and Terrence Howard just show up enough in The Perfect Holiday to either pick up a paycheck or return some kind of mysterious unpaid debt to writer-director Lance Rivera.
Perfect Holiday is far from an offensive effort. It's just pathetic and forgettable, and when it comes to Christmas cheer, mediocrity should never be left under the tree.
There's just no cynicism in this whole story. As if a woman knows how to take a compliment. But this movie allows you to suspend disbelief and buy into a woman who can say thank you.
In one scene, Terrence Howard kneels in a pair of shoes like Tim Conway in a 'Dorf on Golf' video, licks a lollipop and utters this line: 'I gotta go dookie.' I hope they paid him well.
I expected Queen Latifah to be all over this movie not just tiny tiny appearances. It was okay. Not in my expectation though.
May 2, 2011
Dead Angel
Super Reviewer
I found this a cookie-cutter type of movie. Lonely mom with three kids finds a perfect guy who has to work through various obstacles to find his way to true love, dah-da dah-da. I gave it a half-star bonus for the fact that the movie does work with the actors, but deducted a half-star for Queen Latifah and Terrance
Howard's redundant roles in it.
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