Review of The Best Man Holiday (2013) by Jamil M — 18 Dec 2013

I am often criticized for my enjoyment of "black" movies. As a black man, I often resent the notion that one must watch a movie solely due to the fact that black people are in it. I have studied film all of my life and I will always say that if a movie is good I will enjoy it no matter what as long as it is a good quality film. This brings me to my point that this movie was very fulfilling to me as both a moviegoer, but perhaps more importantly as a black man. The film shows a balance of maturity and sincerity that overcomes some of its limitations in writing and directing. This mostly is due to the remarkable cast of actors and actresses. They have managed to add nuance to characters that in lesser hands would have been merely two-dimensional tropes. While the film is predictable in its plot, I really have to acknowledge the ways that the actors manage to portray unpredictability in their performances. Standouts of the film include Taye Diggs, Morris Chestnut, and especially Terrence Howard, who I think gave one of the best performances of his career. This movie will win no Oscars, but what it does achieve is showing a group of black friends as real people dealing with issues of trust, love, faith, and loss; and it achieves it by portraying it flaws and all.

P.S This movie also is a testament to the saying "Black don't crack". It is amazing when you realize that Nia Long and Morris Chestnut look almost the same or even better than they did 22 years ago in "Boyz N The Hood".

Double P.S " Morris Chestnut is the black equivalent to Sean Bean in that something terrible always happens to Morris Chestnut.".