This Christmas Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.5
Audio		3.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

This Christmas Blu-ray Movie Review

The fireside is blazing Blu... but is this a very special Christmas?

Reviewed by Lindsay Mayer November 18, 2008

Christmas flicks are a dime a dozen, though it feels as though each year's releases grow more numerous than the last. Most of them skew toward family, comedy, or adventure romps, though most will always have a glib message by the end of the importance of family ties, and all that. Written, directed and produced by Preston A. Whitmore II, This Christmas proves to be no different. Relievedly free of slapstick comedy and suspension of disbelief, the film's most notable facet is that it is, with few exceptions, centered around a cast of black characters, living in a posh neighborhood of Los Angeles. At the center of it all is Shirley Ann "Ma'Dere" Whitfield (Loretta Devine), the matriarch of a family of six, with two grandchildren, live-in longtime boyfriend Joe Black (Delroy Lindo), and part-time helper Rosie (Lupe Ontiveros). The film opens with a gathering and dinner a few days before Christmas, where for the first time in years Ma'Dere has all of her children under one roof and home for the Christmas holiday.

Claude is just in time for a picture-perfect turkey dinner.

Though much of the film is propped up by the sharp performances of its ensemble cast, it tends to stray too much into the territory of holiday movie clichés - feel good themes that set everything right in the end. Ma'Dere, hurt by her past marriage to a musician with wanderlust, resents her eldest son Quentin Jr. (Idris Elba) for following in his father's footsteps, and has forbidden music as such within her household. Her middle son Claude (Columbus Short) has so far enjoyed his time serving in the U.S. military, while her youngest Michael "Baby" Whitfield (Chris Brown) is currently attending college while living at home. Her daughter Lisa (Regina King) is a wife and homemaker, Kelli (Sharon Leal) is a successful college grad living in New York City, and perpetual student Mel (Lauren London) is indecisive about her major and heading for a seven-year degree. Their respective partners, once scrutinized, are brought warmly in to the fold of their family, but are just as easily booted out. Among other troubles, Lisa's husband Malcolm (Laz Alonso) is having a transcontinental affair, and Claude's new wife Sandi (Jessica Stroup) is an anglo woman that nobody yet knows about. Meanwhile, Michael is secretly pursuing a career in singing, the family deliberate whether to sell the Whitfield dry-cleaning business, and Quentin has a couple of goons hot on his tale to collect $25,000 for unknown reasons.

The aforementioned is the bulk of the film's plot, which feels oddly sterile and meanders along without much direction. It feels almost like one long, politically-correct Christmas commercial, where one perfectly-furnished scene follows another and pretty people with pearly white teeth smile through life's triumphs and tribulations. The characters are well-acted for the most part, but an odd sort of disconnect seems to hang between this "family" - even the kids seem to be more like background accessories, and betwixt the two of them not a single line is uttered. Events which would be deeply hurtful in one's life normally, seem to be skimmed over in the course of this two hour film. This Christmas serves as a mere glimpse into the window of the Whitfield family's world, but there honestly are too many subplots to follow and too many characters to care about within the time allowed. Indeed, upon the introduction of new faces, even the Whitfield family seems to adopt a sort of "Oh, alright then. Nice to meet you - carry on." attitude.

It is admittedly a relief to have a mainstream Christmas film that isn't over-the-top silly, but This Christmas isn't exactly a filling substitute. Feeling like a film that exists chiefly to fill out its actors' résumés, the most any audiences may get out of it is two hours' worth of popcorn munching, and forgettable Christmas entertainment that sometimes tries its best, but still does not hit all the right marks.

This Christmas Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

This Christmas sports a typical quality picture for a BD release from Sony. With an overall excellent transfer, the film is certainly the best it's ever looked, carefully focused theatrical presentation notwithstanding. A fine level of grain is present throughout, and the fine textures of skin and fabrics are well preserved. A rich color palette is often utilized, as the holiday settings give ample opportunity for lush production design. Reds are intense without compression problems such as posterization. Other tones like purples and greens are vivid and tend to draw one's eye upon their presence in a shot. Blacks are deep and display no crush, and no detail is lost in dimly lit scenes. Whites are a tinge warm, like the rest of the palette overall due to digital color grading in post production, but the brighter tones never bloom and go out of range. Contrast is excellent, detail is ever-present, and it may be firmly concluded that the film looks quite elegant on this Blu-ray release.

This Christmas Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

This Christmas comes with a surprising variety of audio tracks, including English (and curiously, Portuguese) Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mixes, as well as Spanish, French, and Thai in Dolby Digital 5.1. The original English audio is a clean lossless mix that is a rather typical specimen of dialogue-heavy dramedies like This Christmas. Conversation, mixed prominently to the center channel, is easily distinguishable even if a character mumbles indignantly to themselves over one spat or another. The soundtrack, consisting of several holiday tunes (most of them contemporary takes on established classics) is rich and warm, though reserved mostly to the fronts. The little ambiance utilized in the film can be heard from the rears, though overall the film is hardly a nuanced field of sound, being a fairly dry and inoffensive mix. The LFE is rarely used, save for the rare lively scene like a family excursion to El Rey Theatre. In all, the audio in This Christmas is serviceable to the subject matter, but doesn't much go above and beyond.

This Christmas Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

As is standard with the minor BD releases from Sony Pictures, This Christmas comes with a cursory amount of extra features, none of which are very engaging or even appealing. First up is the Audio Commentary, with actresses Regina King, Sharon Leal, and Lauren London. It almost has a feel of three women sitting around and watching home movies together, making idle comments here and there. Whether that's a good thing or not is up to the viewer.

On the video side, every clip and featurette is presented in standard definition with Dolby Digital 2.0 sound. The Deleted & Extended Scenes, totaling 5½ minutes, contain one deleted scene in which the goons grab a bite to eat at the Whitfields' house, and a slightly extended nighttime montage. Making This Christmas Special is 11½ minutes worth of cast and crew reflecting on the elements that enticed them to participate in the film; much of this time is spent running down the cast list , wherein crew and co-stars sing the praises of *insert name here*. The "This Christmas" Music Video, performed by Chris Brown, is a straightforward performance by the young artist of the '70s holiday classic, though it's unfortunate that even this too is presented in standard definition.

Sony Pictures' Previews seem a bit transparent this time around - every film advertised has at least one black actor in a starring role. Presented in high definition MPEG-2, Hancock, First Sunday, Stomp the Yard, Are We Done Yet?, Hitch, The Pursuit of Happyness, and Daddy Day Camp are included to entice the curious, as well as a general overview of Sony BDs with a "Blu-ray Disc Is High Definition!" compilation of clips. Finally, the BD-Live features are the usual fluff, with exclusive bonus footage from Hancock and the Sony Pictures Blu-ray Club loyalty program among the more prominent highlights.

This Christmas Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If one wishes to while away the evening after a long day of baking red and green spritz cookies, then This Christmas may be adequate entertainment for just such a purpose. For all else, the film is too forgettable, as a family drama, a holiday picture, or otherwise. Strong, plausible acting by the large cast is not enough to save what is still a Hollywood ideal dysfunctional family, who seem to sail through stormy waters rather easily and come out together and stronger at the end. The Blu-ray features great picture that is becoming a Sony standard, satisfactory audio, and a smattering of extra features to round out this minor title release. Recommended as a rental for fans of holiday films or the all-around curious viewer.