Almost Christmas

What it's about:

A beloved patriarch asks his family for one gift this holiday season: to get along. If they can honour that wish and spend five days under the same roof without killing each other, it will be a Christmas miracle.

What we thought:

One thing I really enjoy about this time of the year is a good Christmas movie.

I'm that person who watches Love Actually every year when it airs on TV.

A really good festive movie is hard to find and sadly Almost Christmas does not fall into that category.  

It has all the festive trimmings but it lacks the cheer and heart. 

The ensemble dramedy features Danny Glover, Kimberly Elise, Mo'Nique, Gabrielle Union, J. B. Smoove, Omar Epps, Jessie Usher and Romany Malco.

The story centres on the Meyers family who will be celebrating their first Christmas together after the death of the matriarch Grace.

Patriarch Walter (Glover) just wants everyone to get along for 5 days but that’s not possible as each of his four kids bring with them their own issues: sibling rivalry, pain killer addiction, workaholic and an unhappy marriage. 

Oh and there's also his sister-in-law Aunt May (Mo'Nique) who joins the family. 

The main problem with this film is that there are too many storylines happening at the same time. There is no cohesiveness that ties each of them together.  
For example the sibling rivalry story between the two sisters feels like the audience has just been dropped in the middle of it, there's no background and the haphazard way it is resolved in the end feels short-changed.

To the film's credit it does have a good cast and each of them try really hard in their respective role to make it work.

Glover is without a doubt the glue that keeps this movie together. 

While the film does have its good moments they are not enough to sustain the 111 minute running time.