I walked into The Best Man Holiday blind. Fourteen years ago writer/director Malcolm D. Lee made his writing and directorial debut with a movie called The Best Man. TO this day I’ve never seen it and while the opening credits for its unexpected sequel begin to play, suddenly I’m thrust into an unfamiliar world where it clearly would have been beneficial to be ahead of the game.
Who are these people? Who had sex with whom? Who was best man? Who is the stripper? Are they still friends? Fortunately, I now have the answers and can either introduce you or jog your faded memory.
First there’s Taye Diggs as Harper, a successful author currently suffering from writer’s block. He’s married to Robyn (Sanaa Lathan) who’s nine months pregnant. Then there’s Lance (Morris Chestnut), a professional football player, whom I learned got married in the first film to Mia (Monica Calhoun), who just so happened to have a one night affair with Harper, Lance’s best friend and best man. They haven’t necessarily reconciled their differences as of yet.
Then there’s Murch (Harold Perrineau) and his wife (and ex-stripper) Candy (Regina Hall). They run a charter school that has just run into some trouble with fund-raising as an unfortunate video from Candy’s past has caused them to lose a major donor.
Next is Shelby (Melissa De Sousa), a “Real Housewives” participant and she plays the part well. Terrence Howard is Quentin, a marketing consultant and full-time player and finally there’s Jordan (Nia Long), a successful television producer whose current boyfriend (Eddie Cibrian) causes a minor stir due to the fact he’s white, which makes for a pretty great billiard room conversation early in the film as Lance and Mia have invited everyone to their massive home for the holidays and thus is the basis for the film.
If, like me, you missed the first film you should now be armed with all the information you need as grudges, emotions and secrets bubble to the surface as this group gets back together.
For the first hour or so Lee pretty much puts his characters into the pot and lets it boil. The narrative is established and the direction the film is going to take is largely understood. There are a lot of laughs, most of which revolving around Howard as Quentin as his libido and single man attitude have kept him from “growing up” as quickly as the rest of his friends.
Beyond Howard I don’t have much of a complaint about anyone in the cast, they all work quite well together. Perrineau and Hall manage to rise up and serve as the most convincing couple, even though Lee primarily operates on the assumption the audience has already accepted each character’s place in this film without dedicating much time or storytelling nuance to any of their stories. Instead he decides to go the more obvious route, especially with Harper’s character and the subsequent and cliched fallout due to the choices he makes.
This is what leads to the film’s largest speed bump, which is almost more of a brick wall. Once the story goes just beyond its midway point it is relentless in its melodrama. One thing after another goes wrong as secrets are revealed and one misunderstanding after another leads to one argument after another. The only reprieve for the audience is when Howard comes in with a one-liner. At one point he even says it plain as day. Dressed in a Santa suit, he looks Harper square in the face as he’s sitting, wallowing in his own despair, and Quentin says, “Now that was some melodramatic shit.” Indeed. Without Quentin’s asides I’m not sure the audience could have handled the absolute weight of each scene in the film’s latter half.
This constant emotional gut-wrenching ultimately hurts the film as it sets out with a rather tongue-in-cheek, semi-serious tone that included some real world problems mixed with impromptu lip-sync performances to New Edition’s “Can You Stand the Rain?” (which reminds me, the soundtrack is great). But it quickly pivots from light-hearted to incredibly serious and doesn’t let go until the very final minutes where the last ten or so prove Lee could have balanced his serious plot points and maintained the humor the film delivered.
Overall, though, I enjoyed the movie if it was a bit of a long walk up a steep hill through most of the second and third acts. The comedy and soundtrack were great and I like most of the characters, and if the final minutes are any indication this won’t be the last time we hear from them. The big question is, has Lee created his own Before Sunrise-esque franchise, which is to wonder will we get The Best Man 3 in 2027, or will the success this installment is sure to enjoy put the next film on a faster timeline?
Who am I kidding? Go ahead and expect another one by 2015.
