It's a very special 'Best Man Holiday' reunion
It's been a while. The original Best Man film came out in 1999. This belated sequel manages to reunite the entire ensemble - Taye Diggs, Morris Chestnut, Nia Long, Monica Calhoun, Terrence Howard, Sanaa Lathan, Harold Perrineau, Melissa De Sousa, and Regina Hall. Which is fortunate because the cast is by far the most appealing aspect of both movies.
It's been a while. The original Best Man film came out in 1999. This belated sequel manages to reunite the entire ensemble - Taye Diggs, Morris Chestnut, Nia Long, Monica Calhoun, Terrence Howard, Sanaa Lathan, Harold Perrineau, Melissa De Sousa, and Regina Hall. Which is fortunate because the cast is by far the most appealing aspect of both movies.
Together they create a lovely, natural, and convincing atmosphere as old friends getting together for a lavish (and endless) Christmas celebration at the palatial New Jersey mansion of Lance (Chestnut) and Mia (Calhoun).
Holiday is a sheer pleasure in its comedic moments. But director/writer Malcolm D. Lee is intent on flushing away all the laughter with tears.
The performances bog down in the mawkishly melodramatic stretches, that is to say, most of the time because The Best Man Holiday has more sap than a Christmas tree farm.
That allows Howard to steal the film because his pot-smoking Quentin doesn't have to shoulder much of the ponderous material. New recruit Eddie Cibrian gives a surprisingly charming performance as Brian, the boyfriend of Jordan (Long), who succeeds in winning the group's approval despite his complexion.
The two major plot engines - the covert intention of Harper (Diggs) to write Lance's memoir and an old shameful video of Candace (Hall) reemerging on YouTube - seem drearily creaky and fabricated.
The film should climax with Lance's final game as a running back for the New York Giants. (Note to Lee: All those screen passes would not count in Lance's desperate crusade to break the all-time rushing record.)
But Holiday throws another emotionally manipulative ending on top of that. And then another. And another. Then, straining its steroidal soap muscles mightily, it heaves on a final flash-forward, purely to set up another sequel.
Presumably, in light of the stagnant progress of The Best Man films, that means we'll check back in with you guys in, let's see, 2027.
The Best Man Holiday ** (Out of four stars)
Directed by Malcolm D. Lee, with Taye Diggs, Morris Chestnut, Nia Long, Monica Calhoun, and Terrence Howard. Distributed by Universal Pictures.
Running time: 2 hours, 4 mins.
Parent's guide: R (emphatic profanity, nudity, adult themes)
Playing at: area theatersEndText