Almost Christmas

Almost Christmas

Let us now speak reverently of the auntie. She is like an uncle in that she is a particular kind of influential figure, but unlike him she does not have subspecies. There’s one type of auntie, and it doesn’t matter if you call her “tía,” or “anty,” or simply by her name. She can be your advocate, playing the sibling card while begging your parents to see things from your perspective. But she can also wield the hammer of discipline harder than they ever could knocking an unfathomable amount of sense into you when you’re wrong.

She does all this with a take-no-prisoners attitude and a dirty mouth.

Anyone who has aunties knows how lucky we are to have them, and how much better our lives are for it. In “Almost Christmas,” the new film from David E. Talbert, there is an auntie character played by the Oscar-winning actress and comedian Mo’Nique. In her stand-up days, Mo’Nique was perhaps best known for being our Aunt May’s primary source of material: She wore costumes and wigs bought off backup singers from every soul act that ever existed; she was loud; she was funny; and most important, she always had some word to pass on from Jesus (telling us what he wouldn’t do) or her husband (telling us what he won’t do). It would’ve been sickening if it wasn’t so true.

With Aunt May cast as Mo’Nique in full affect large glasses covering up half the light in her eyes, makeup shining two shades lighter than God intended we know immediately that this will be a different kind of black holiday movie.

Aunt May floats through “Almost Christmas” like blunts through Black Twitter timelines: sometimes only serving as instigator; other times serving as well-aimed sideline commentator. Every time out is a comic joy, ensuring a laugh or at least a smile. Aunt May is such a delicious force that the audience waits with bated breath to see if she’ll do what we expect from an auntie and she always does; it’s her consistency that’s the warmest form of comfort.

Aunt May is Walter Meyers’ sister-in-law (played by Danny Glover, looking frail enough for Mo’Nique to seemingly break character to comment on). “Almost Christmas” begins with a direct hat tip to Pixar’s “Up”: set to The Four Tops’ soul classic “Ain’t No Woman (Like the One I Got),” we see the evolution of Walter’s relationship with his wife Grace from when they first met, through their wedding and several kids later, including the unexpected final son conceived in their 40s, on up until Grace dies.

This mini-movie is cute directorial foreshadowing: It contains examples of everything Talbert will do throughout the course of “Almost Christmas,” right down to those eerily beautiful beams of sunlight that follow around Gabriel (the youngest Meyers) whenever he steps near a window in his parents’ house.

Gabriel (Jesse T. Usher) has all of the potential in world sports superstardom but he’ll always be just little Gabe, or as his older siblings call him: that pain in the ass little brother we never even asked for. Rounding out Walter’s brood is a politician running for office under increasingly shady circumstances (Romany Malco) and two sisters who can’t stand one another or even be in the same room together (Gabrielle Union and Kimberly Elise), along with various significant others and children brought together for their first Christmas since their mother passed away.

All Walter asked was for five days where they could get along without her presence. But as “Soul Food” proved before “Home for the Holidays” proved after and “The Best Man Holiday” proved recently, Walter’s wish won’t be so easy to grant.

There are plenty of subplots in this thing to fill a couple of Robert Altman movies. This tangle of storylines never once reaches beyond the familiar, but it’s a well-acted, entertaining tangle nonetheless. It stars Gabrielle Union as a crabby mourner whose family is coming together for their first Christmas since her husband died; there’s also the antagonistic relationship between Union and her high school crush/next door neighbor (Omar Epps), the wandering eye of J.B. Smoove’s goofy subcategory of uncle (he’s married to Elise), Usher’s painkiller addiction, Malco’s potential betrayal of his late mother’s memory and the big secret Walter is hiding from his family.

Every single one of these stories climaxes in massive moments of high drama, all of which play out in front of the next generation of Meyers kids. These latest additions to the holiday kids’ table are a tech-savvy bunch who record everything on their phones. They say the children are our future, and judging by these crumb snatchers, that future’s going to be instantly available for public consumption by the masses: When one gives a shout-out to Worldstar Hip-Hop after recording a particularly embarrassing bit of family business, I threw up my hands.

The committed performances by “Almost Christmas”’ talented cast help alleviate concerns about its familiarity and melodrama. Kimberly Elise has always been terrific at handling heavy drama and broad comedy in the same moment she is nothing if not a Madea movie veteran so it makes sense that hers is my favorite performance here: The actress should seriously be considered an heir apparent to Taraji P. Henson for queen of reacting to things with her whole body on camera supremacy.

Gabrielle Union also brings sweetness to her story with Omar Epps; theirs is one of only two romances in the movie. (The other is Keri Hilson’s reunion with her husband, played by Laney College alumnus turned model John Michael Higgins.) And as the only two “grown-ups” in the movie, Glover and Mo’Nique bring a welcome maturity even while acting like damn fools. Their final scene together is a beautifully rendered moment of quiet, mature introspection that the two of them play with undeniable grace.

Sometimes I get to thinking about movies like “Almost Christmas” and wonder how they make money not because they’re bad or poorly made or anything, but because who wants to spend money for a ticket to see their own life? Maybe it’s that sense of empathy Roger always talked about when he described what movies are; the people onscreen may or may not look like us, but we can find some relatability and understanding in their comic foibles and tragic events.

Or maybe it’s just a need for a pleasant distraction from all the real-life hell that befalls us on a daily basis this year has been rough, folks. Either way, whatever brings people together at the movies these days is probably worth it if it results in more understanding between one another; minor flaws are forgivable in light of such lofty goals.

Watch Almost Christmas For Free On Gomovies.