Review of The Best Man Holiday (2013) by Patrick L — 12 Feb 2014

"There's a lot of emotion, laughs and love in Malcolm D. Lee's follow up to The Best Man".

DVD Movie Review: The Best Man Holiday.

Date Viewed: February 4 2014.

Written and Directed By Malcolm D. Lee (The Best Man, Undercover Brother, Soul Men and Roll Bounce).

Starring: Taye Diggs, Sanaa Lathan, Morris Chestnut, Nia Long, Regina Hall, Terrence Howard, Harold Perrineau, Monica Calhoun, Melissa De Sousa and Eddie Cibrian.

Almost 15 years after "The Best Man" came out, writer and director Malcolm D. Lee reunites the cast from the original in "The Best Man Holiday", a surprising sequel that brings more laughs and emotional drama than the first film. "The Best Man" was a little movie from 1999 that came out nowhere and it became a box office success. "The Best Man" also launched the careers of Taye Diggs, Harold Perrineau, Morris Chestnut, Terrence Howard, Nia Long, Sanaa Lathan and others. Malcolm D. Lee's two "Best Man" films have more heart, drama and laughs than any of Tyler Perry's movies.

The whole gang gets back together after Lance and Mia Sullivan (Morris Chestnut and Monica Calhoun) write letters to their old friends inviting them for the Christmas holidays. In attendance are struggling bestselling author Harper Stewart (Taye Diggs) and his wife Robin (Sanaa Lathan) who is nine months pregnant, Julian and Candace Murch (Harold Perrineau and Regina Hall), Quentin (Terrence Howard), Jordan Armstrong (Nia Long) and her new boyfriend Brian (Eddie Cibrian, of "CSI: Miami"), and Shelby (Melissa De Sousa) who unfortunately has turned into one of those "Real Housewife" atrocities.

Old wounds and rivalries still scar the college friendship but Harper is shocked to find that Mia is dying of cancer. She has had the illness for over a year and they keep this a secret from their friends. Even though I knew where the story was going to go, I'm glad to see those characters again. I wouldn't call "The Best Man Holiday" a Christmas classic but it is a huge improvement over Malcolm D. Lee's last movie, "Scary Movie 5".

Writer and Director Malcolm D. Lee has put lot of care into his follow up to "The Best Man". It is well-acted, well written and it will make you laugh and cry.