This Christmas

NEW YORK (CNS) -- A well-heeled African-American clan gathers for their first holiday season together in four years in "This Christmas" (Screen Gems). The result is a spirited but somewhat pat family drama in which relationships are renewed and secrets revealed.

Family matriarch Shirley "Ma'Dere" Whitfield (Loretta Devine) is delighted to welcome her adult children home to Los Angeles, even if their arrival means temporary exile for her live-in companion, Joseph Black (Delroy Lindo, also the executive producer). Shirley has never divorced the children's father, though he deserted her years ago, and while some of them regard Joe as an unofficial stepfather, her oldest son, rootless jazz musician Quentin (Idris Elba), resents him as an interloper.

As Shirley's two younger sons and three daughters each arrive, other family divisions come to the fore. Under the influence of her domineering and cash-strapped husband Malcolm (Laz Alonso), for example, oldest daughter Lisa is pushing to sell the family dry-cleaning business. Middle sister Kelli (Sharon Leal), a successful career woman who distrusts Malcolm, adamantly opposes the idea.

Youngest daughter Mel (Lauren London), on the other hand, is focused entirely on her budding romance with her boyfriend, Devean (Keith Robinson), who is staying with the family. Shirley's two younger sons, meanwhile, Marine Claude (Columbus Short) and student Michael (Chris Brown), are both struggling to find the courage to reveal closely held secrets.

Writer-director-producer Preston A. Whitmore II deftly interweaves these various plot elements, some quite predictable. He then adds welcome strands of humor and music to produce, overall, a very pleasant tapestry.

The film is quite clearly intended as an affirmation of faith and family. Indeed, the plot's climax is reached in a scene of reconciliation played out during a worship service in church. Yet there are some problematic elements.

When one daughter, in response to her husband's infidelities, brings her marriage to an end with a physical attack on him, the script presents their presumed subsequent divorce as unambiguously positive. From the start of the film, of course, mother Shirley's reluctance to divorce her absent husband is undermined by her willingness to live with Joe.

Moreover, a scene in which another daughter is shown to have brought a sexual device home with her seems out of place in a family-oriented holiday film.

Despite these flaws, "This Christmas" emerges, for the most part, as lighthearted and enjoyable. It's the kind of film where the characters get together to do silly dances in front of the Christmas tree, thus proving the old adage: The family that slides together abides together.

The film contains a scene of domestic violence, some sexual references and humor, some crude and crass language, implied nonmarital sex and cohabitation, themes of divorce and skimpy costuming. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-III -- adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 -- parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

Secret Archives of the Saints, Subscribe Today

---

Copyright (c) 2007 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops