Review of The Best Man Holiday (2013) by Nick P — 29 Nov 2013

Here is another sequel to a fairly decent film. And I must say, this isnt mediocre and far from bad.

The Best Man Holiday is directed by Malcolm D. Lee and starring the original cast, Taye Diggs, Morris Chestnut, Nia Long, Regina Hall, Sanaa Lathan and Terrence Howard. It is the sequel to the film The Best Man about a group of college friends getting prepared for one friends wedding and suddenly secrets come out. This one is about the group of friends fourteen years later starting out with protagonist, Harper, (Taye Diggs). He is a once successful author of a best seller and in search for something new. He is married to heavily pregnant wife, (Sanaa Lathan).

He is influenced to do an unauthorized biography on his estranged friend, Lance, (Morris Chestnut) who is a famous football star married to his wife Mia and has four kids. They are invited to a Christmas reunion with other old friends, including vulgar playboy, Quentin or as they call him, "Q" (Terrence Howard), businesswoman Jordan (Nia Long), who is in a relationship with a charming caucasian man and Candace, (Regina Hall), a womab married to one of their guy friends. As they all rejoice, once again, secrets about the past and a tragic upcoming news about one of them is soon discovered through their dysfunctional relationships.

The story is nothing new and you certainly wont understand until you have seen the first one. The performances are strong, notably Terrence Howard. What was the most difficult about the film was not the seperate stories cramming poorly into one, but the predictability. It was so obvious and clear that it was almost boring at some points. As far as the tearjerker scenes, it really depends on the viewer you are, whether you dont cry until you see Titantic or just very emotional, both are very OK and it doesnt have the full ability to pull the strings of the heart. It has its warm moments, but I wish that things had been more intense and a little more genuine. Other than those flaws, the movie is well done.