Maybe it's because I just sat through the lazy, depressing
Fred Claus. Maybe it's because I was expecting Tyler Perry in drag. Maybe it's because my holiday spirit is at an all-time low. Whatever the reason,
This Christmas came as a complete surprise. I kinda loved the thing.
Loretta Devine plays Ma Dear, the matriarch of a sprawling Los Angeles-based family with a whole lot of secrets. A
whole lot. There's Quentin (
Idris Elba, Stringer Bell on
The Wire -- the best show on television), a musician who owes big money to some bookies. There's Lisa (
Regina King), trapped in an emotionally abusive marriage with the hissable Malcome (
Laz Alonso). There's Kelli (
Sharon Leal), a sexually frustrated businesswoman. There's Claude (
Columbus Short), in love with a woman (
Jessica Stroup) he's scared to introduce to his family. Ma Dear has a secret of her own regarding Joe (
Delroy Lindo), something of a surrogate father to the Whitfield clan. Oh, and Baby (R&B sensation
Chris Brown)? He wants to
sing, damn it!
That's a lot of stories to keep afloat, and writer/director
Preston A. Whitmore II handles that list and
many more mini-dramas with ease. It's quite the balancing act. Whitmore has written and/or directed several smaller projects since 1995's Vietnam drama
The Walking Dead, but
Christmas will put him on the map in a big way.
Is it really Monday already? Here are some casting bites that have popped up over at Variety:
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