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The Perfect Holiday (2007)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:55
Fresh:9
Rotten:46
Average Rating:3.9/10
Consensus: The Perfect Holiday is the perfect example of Christmas movie clichés run amok.
Runtime: 1 hr 36 mins
Genre: Comedies
Synopsis: Christmas wishes come true in Lance Rivera's (THE COOKOUT) second turn as a director, THE PERFECT HOLIDAY. Struggling songwriter Benjamin Armstrong (Morris Chestnut) is an all-around nice guy who... Christmas wishes come true in Lance Rivera's (THE COOKOUT) second turn as a director, THE PERFECT HOLIDAY. Struggling songwriter Benjamin Armstrong (Morris Chestnut) is an all-around nice guy who is both looking for love and waiting for his big break. In the meantime, he works part-time as a shopping mall Santa, and one day receives a sweet request from young Emily (Khail Bryant): all she wants for Christmas is for her mommy to meet a nice man. A busy divorced single mother of three, Nancy (Gabrielle Union) has lost her faith in love since her bitter divorce from James, aka mega-rap star J-Jizzy (Charlie Murphy). When Benjamin uses Emily's inside information to make her Christmas wish come true, it looks likes he's found love with Nancy. But will a big career break cost him everything? And will Nancy's eldest son, John-John (Malik Hammond) accept him and give up on his dream that his parents will reconcile? With some help from Mrs. Christmas (Queen Latifah), reminiscent of Clarence in IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, they all just might have a perfect holiday. Murphy, who bears an uncanny resemblance to his younger brother Eddie, is fun as J-Jizzy, pushing the gangsta rapper stereotype to comic extremes. Terrence Howard appears briefly as Bah-Humbug, who attempts to foil Mrs. Christmas's good deeds. Faizon Love and Katt Williams lend comic support as Ben's best buddy, Jamal, and J-Jizzy's manager, Delicious. Union and Chestnut make a lovely couple, but the kids steal the show here. Hammond does a great job as a little boy who is trying to be a man and along the way realizes that his father isn't perfect. Bryant and Jeremy Gumbs, who plays middle-child Mikey, make their big-screen debuts. [More]
Starring: Morris Chestnut, Gabrielle Union, Charlie Murphy, Katt Williams
Starring: Morris Chestnut, Gabrielle Union, Charlie Murphy, Katt Williams, Faizon Love, Terrence Howard, Queen Latifah, Jill Marie Jones, Rachel True, Malik Hammond, Khail Bryant, Jeremy Gumbs
Director: Lance Rivera
Director: Lance Rivera
Screenwriter: Lance Rivera, Marc Calixte, Nat Mauldin, Jeff Stein
Story: Lance Rivera, Marc Calixte
Producer: Mike Elliott, Joseph P. Genier, Marvin Peart, Shakim Compere, Queen Latifah, Leifur B. Dagfinnsson
Composer: Christopher Lennertz
Studio: Yari Film Group
Reviews for The Perfect Holiday
If tickets to this yuletide dreck are hiding in your stocking, you'd be better off with a lump of coal.
[The script] hasn't been written as much as stamped out like so many cheap Christmas knickknacks that will be on the clearance shelf come Dec. 26.
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.
In the annals of Noel films so wincingly, gratingly, insultingly bad that a lump of coal would be vastly preferable, The Perfect Holiday ranks alongside Surviving Christmas for sheer unwatchability.
The cast is game, the script is watered nog, the kids push their charm hard, Murphy is often excruciating, Union is pleasant in a sitcom mommy way, and Lance Rivera is a zero stylist.
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.
The dialogue is so one-note, the plot absurd, and most attempts at humor fall flat.
Stay for the nail-biting conclusion, but only if you can stomach the horror of Queen Latifah and Terrence Howard reaching career lows as manifestations of all that is cheerful and insufferable, respectively, about the holidays.
Most people seeing this movie might wonder what Queen Latifah did to convince Terrence Howard to take on what will surely be his worst role of the year.
It's a shame that Gabrielle Union can't get better scripts than this one.
Despite the appealing supporting performers, I'd like to cap this movie.
Wants to be a Christmas perennial, but it wilts badly well before the final credits roll.
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.
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