The Perfect Holiday DVD Review

By Kam Williams    

Syrupy Christmas Comedy Starring Gabrielle Union and Morris Chestnut Comes to DVD

Nancy (Gabrielle Union) has had her hands full raising three kids alone since her divorce from J-Jizzy (Charlie Murphy), a self-absorbed rap star. Since he doesn't devote enough quality time to them, she's ended up overburdened and neglecting her own needs.

This state of affairs hasn't been lost on her youngest, Emily (Khail Bryant), who whispers to Santa Claus a Christmas wish for a man to make her mom happy again. What the little girl doesn't know is that Benjamin (Morris Chestnut), the mall Santa whose lap she's sitting in, just happens to be a very handsome hunk underneath the fake beard and red fat suit. More importantly, he's available and instantly smitten as soon as he looks over and gets a load of Nancy.

The problem is that Benjamin is just seasonal help and, after Christmas, he'll be back at his more mundane job as an office supply salesman, although he does dream of becoming a famous songwriter. So, even after he does summon up the courage to approach Nancy in street clothes at the cleaners, he's still suffers from low self esteem, he hightails it out of the store before she can respond.

Thus unfolds the underlying premise established at the outset of The Perfect Holiday, one of those syrupy sweet romantic comedies which keeps a pair of lovebirds obviously meant for each other apart via a series of frustrating circumstances. In this case, the flies in the ointment are Benjamin's shyness, Nancy's cluelessness, her son, John-John's (Malik Hammond), attempt to sabotage the relationship, and her ex's interference, too.

Despite a supporting cast with Katt Williams, Faizon Love, Queen Latifah and Terrence Howard, the picture belongs to Gabrielle Union and Morris Chestnut, who certainly generate the romance genre's requisite chemistry.

I saw mommy kissin' Santa Claus, ghetto style.

Good (2 stars)
Rated PG for mild epithets and suggestive humor.
Running time: 96 minutes
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
DVD Extras: Producer's commentary, video diary and "The Making of" featurette.

To see a trailer for The Perfect Holiday,