The Perfect Holiday

Not perfect. Not really about a holiday. At least 'The' is accurate!

By Matt Pais

Critic's Rating:

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Queen Latifah, Morris Chestnut and Terrence Howard in "The Perfect Holiday" (Credit: YFG)

Photos:

Romantic songwriter, part-time mall Santa and all-around nice guy Benjamin (Morris Chestnut) pursues beautiful single mother Nancy (Gabrielle Union, pleasant) after her daughter tells Santa/Benjamin that her mom needs to meet a good man. That complicates things for Benjamin since he apparently can't tell Nancy he's Santa—and because Nancy's ex is superstar rapper and absentee father J. Jizzy (Charlie Murphy), who, coincidentally, is the same guy that could give Benjamin his big break. Queen Latifah and Terrence Howard also star.

Big question: Can "The Perfect Holiday" chronicle a merry Christmas-in-the-making without stuffing fruitcake down our throats?

Skip it: Great, a Santa with integrity about a mall's non-existent confidentiality policy. There's no reason Benjamin can't come clean right away, except then there would be no chance to see Jizzy make second-rate Puff Daddy videos, Benjamin and Nancy get to know each other (montage-style) or Nancy's oldest son predictably resist any man but his daddy. Totally worth it, don't you think?

Catch it: To see Howard pretend to be a little kid in a cowboy uniform and tell his mom (Latifah) he has to go "dookie." That's Oscar nominee Terrence Howard, ladies and gentleman.

Bottom line: There are in fact different kinds of people besides all naughty and all nice—and different styles of music than garbage rap and Brian McKnight-esque R&B—but any character complexity would make "The Perfect Holiday" take even longer to get to where we already know it's going. If Hollywood's going to bake the same Christmas stories each year, we'd really appreciate some fresher batter.

Bonus: Jizzy, who has a song called "I Got Doodoo On My Shoe" and schedules breakfast meetings for 2:30 p.m., does have one idea that consumers might like: offering a free cookie with purchase of his Christmas album. Because when you return the album, they can't take back the cookie!

mpais@tribune.com