The Best Man Holiday - Review

The Best Man Holiday – Review

Taye Diggs, Morris Chestnut, Regina Hall, Sanaa Lathan, Nia Long, Harold Permineau and Terrence Howard collectively reprise their comedy drama roles from the then coming age 1999 film “The Best Man” in the 15 years later effort now called “The Best Man Holiday”.  

Once again, the basic foundation of the film’s plot peels away the individual stories of each character as they now have cultivated highly successful professional lives but are still very much connected and intertwined as a life long circle of close and enduring friendships, love, marriages, jealousy and healing.

Structure wise, the old adage of “if it’s not broken then don’t fix it” is in play here. So if you saw the original film then you will realize early on in this effort that it doesn’t really provide anything new about the characters beyond some subtle nuances. The major plot point now is they are all adults who have all achieved some measure of professional success in the chosen fields of endeavor. And typically what comes along with adulthood and age are the demands for greater responsibility to family and friends, greater concerns and apprehensions in their professional life and in general greater maturity that naturally comes with the ups and downs in life’s journey.

The Best Man Holiday overall is entertaining and appropriately reflective about relationships, and while I could of done without several of the over the top melodramatic moments that are uniquely more suited for day time soap operas, the film itself still remains intact as a decent fluid story. A story at times very uplifting, sometimes very poignant, sometimes very open about religious spirituality and sometimes (unfortunately) a bit misplaced with some needless graphic discussions about sex in the backdrop of the family Christmas holiday season.

One aspect of the films direction I especially enjoyed was the use of Terrence Howard’s character Quentin as the perpetual comic relief. Howard is always a superb actor who showed here he has natural timing, style and charisma in these types of roles. On many occasions through out the film his lines left me laughing out loud.

In the end The Best Man Holiday is a good film with good intentions, a good sense of itself and above all a genuine earnestness about what love and friendship are really about and what it is not about.

3 – 1/4 Stars