(Credit IMDb) Laughter, love and just a hint of magic make for 'The Perfect Holiday', a fun-filled comedy starring Morris Chestnut, Gabrielle Union, Charlie Murphy, Katt Williams, Faizon Love, Terrence Howard and Queen Latifah. All Nancy Taylor (Union) wants for Christmas is to meet a nice man. So when her little girl shares her smitten wish with a Mall Santa, Benjamin Armstrong(Chestnut), he does his best o make her dreams come true in this delightful family treat for the whole family to enjoyI've become pickier with my movie choices over the years, but I still hate being a picky critic. I've vowed to give any movie a chance to provide enjoyment for me, but Perfect Holiday just didn't cut it. The thought is certainly nice, and it's admirable, but it tried to stick it down my throat once too often, with too many unbelievable situations. The kids are annoying, especially the big brother, and I had a lot of trouble identifying myself with the characters. The ending is a bit too good to be true, but if you're a believer in this stuff, you may get a kick out of it.Performances. Morris Chestnut is OK, probably the best character here. He was somewhat likable, and seemed like an ordinary fellow. The Problem is he isn't given much depth to speak of. Gabrielle Union is certainly great to look at, and does fine with what she is given. It's just I found her character to be much too wishy-washy. Faizon Love is the comic relief, nothing more. He did OK at that. Charles Q. Murphy is annoying as Jizzy, and over did it completely. Katt Williams plays it oddly straight most of the time. While Terrance Howard and Queen Latifah have some cameo spots.Bottom line. If you want to sit down and watch an enjoyable Christmas themed movie, look elsewhere. I personally feel it will bore your kids and yourself in the process.3 ½ /10

The Perfect Holiday is not necessarily a bad movie but its far from a great one too. While I admire a movie that does not try to be offensive and wants to be positive there is a thin line from being a little schmaltzy to laying it on real thick. The movie is not unwatchable. It has a talented all-star cast that do a decent job acting but the script is hackneyed and cheesy to a fault plus its pretty bland.Spoiler Alert! The story: Gabriell Union plays Nancy, a newly divorced woman who's daughter overhears her conversation about what she wants from a man: a compliment. The daughter goes to a mall Santa(played by Morris Chestnut) named Benjamin and wishes that her mom gets a compliment by her man. Benjamin(Chestnut) gives Nancy a compliment and soon they begin to date. Problems arise when Nancy's naive son, John John gets annoyed by Benjamin because the little tyke misses his arrogant and thoughtless wannabe-rapper father J-Jizzy(played by Charlie Murphy)who would rather be large than be with his family. Then things get even more complicated for the relationship between Nancy and Benjamin when J-Jizzy asks for Benjamin, who also sings to record with him. Queen Latifah plays Mrs Christmas, an angel who is also the narrator of the movie.Opinion: Positive: this movie is not terrible. Negative: but its not memorable either. Positive: it has an all-star cast. Negative: they are all wasted on a script that pulls every Christmas cliché out of the book. Positive: The Perfect Holiday is earnest and has a heart. Negative: its syrupy to the point of cheesiness. Positive: it makes an effort at humor. Negative: The humor misses more than it hits. Positive: Its the least offensive Christmas comedy ever made. Negative: It wallows in mediocrity like pigs do in mud. Positive: Its great to see a movie especially an African-American film that is not based on sex and violence. Negative: Its kind of bland and the schmaltzy scenes are a bit much. All in all I would recommend this movie to you if you want to see a Christmas movie starring African Americans that is not offensive but Last Holiday and This Christmas are much better. Perfect Holiday is far from a stinker but when compared to great movies like This Christmas Soul Food, The Wood, The Inkwell, Love Jones, Brown Sugar etc Perfect Holiday can easily be forgotten.

You can't go wrong with a movie with fly Gabrielle Union. She plays almost the same type of character that she plays in every movie. But this time she is divorced with three young children. Queen Latifah was the angel and Terrance Howard was the Scrooge throughout the movie. We all should have known that Gabrielle Union's character would end up with Morris Chestnut's "Santa Claus" character at the end of the movie. Charlie Murphy one again plays a mean character in this movie. And Fazion Love is still as crazy as ever. But I cannot believe that those kids did not know that Morris Chestnut's character and Santa were the same person!

Queen Latifah is the reason we attended the advance screening of PERFECT HOLIDAY in our area. If she is your only reason for viewing this movie, you might be as disappointed as we were. My husband would have bolted after 15 minutes, but in deference to me, he sat through the entire movie. He did laugh once, towards the end of the movie, at a cryptic comment uttered by Terrence Howard's character in front of a closed outlet mall. I won't spoil the movie for you by telling you the line, but you will probably laugh, too. Speaking of Terrence Howard, he must have owed Queen Latifah BIG TIME to appear in this movie, especially as the humbug to her holiday.The movie has some warm, touching moments, with a little bit (very little bit) of comedy and (more than a little bit) love. It is just too bland and average to warrant a night out, especially at today's ticket prices. Wait for the DVD, or better yet, wait for cable (unless you really have to see the Queen). Please don't spoil your perfect holidays by going out of your way to see this movie.