Almost Christmas is an American Christmas dramedy film written and directed by David E. Talbert and starring Kimberly Elise, Mo'Nique, Nicole Ari Parker, Gabrielle Union, Keri Hilson, Jessie Usher, Danny Glover, Omar Epps, John Michael Higgins and Romany Malco. It was released in theaters on Veterans Day of 2016 by Universal Pictures, with Perfect World Pictures, and was a Will Pecker Production.
Synopsis[]
The opening credits montage starts in the 1970s, showcasing Walter and Grace Meyers' relationship. They fell in love and got married, raising four children together. Grace passes away in February 2016, leaving Walter all by himself now that his adult children have left the house.
Ten months later, five days before Christmas, we catch up with the Meyers children - oldest daughter Cheryl is married to egocentric basketball player Lonnie. Oldest son Christian is running for a congressman position and is married to Sonya, and they have two kids, Cameron and Dee. Rachel is a single mother to Niya and tries to maintain an independent image and finish law school. Youngest child Evan is a star college football player, and his mother's death has affected him the hardest of the siblings.
Walter is preparing to have the family over. He does some volunteer work at the homeless shelter like Grace did, and he attempts to bake her famous sweet potato pie, though he hasn't gotten the hang of it yet. He is visited by Grace's sister May, who is ready to help her brother-in-law get the family together.
Christian and his family arrive first. However, he's brought his campaign manager Andy Brooks along to take care of business so Christian can stay with the family. Rachel and Niya arrive, and Rachel is greeted by an old schoolmate, Malachi. He offers to help Rachel with her bags, but she takes it as him undermining her capabilities, so she willingly struggles to carry both bags into the house. Cheryl and Lonnie show up, and we see that Rachel and Cheryl have a rocky relationship.
May cooks the family's dinner that night, but everyone is grossed out by the food, igniting the first of many arguments between the siblings. Evan comes home in the middle of the argument. Rachel and Cheryl storm upstairs until their father stops them. May adds to it by scolding them for behaving badly.
The next day, the family goes to church where they sing gospel songs. Later that night, Lonnie tries to fix a Santa Claus decoration on top of the house for the kids. It seems to work at first, but it short-circuits, and Santa's head flies off, scaring Dee. Lonnie then falls off the roof.
On December 22nd, the family becomes lively when they play their favorite songs, leading to everyone dancing. Even Walter gets in on the fun. They later put up the Christmas tree. Evan then starts to get sad when he misses his mom, so he goes to hang out with his buddy Eric. Evan has been taking prescription pills as recommended by his coach, and Eric has a hookup for more.
Christian goes out with Brooks and does some promotional campaigning as he is interviewed by a local news station.
Lonnie goes to a supermarket and runs into an employee named Jasmine, who is an admirer of his. She puts the moves on him and later invites him to the stockroom where they have sex.
Rachel continuously runs into Malachi, and every time he tries to help, she brushes him off. Niya tells her mom about how sometimes, it's okay to let a guy be a hero when he wants to be. She mentions having her own boyfriend, to Rachel's surprise, but she won't say anymore.
The family gathers for some touch football. They have fun until Lonnie gets too aggressive and almost hurts Evan, upsetting Rachel and the others.
Christian learns that his campaign team is involved in a re-zoning in the community, which means that the homeless shelter, among other places, will be badly affected. He tells Brooks to not go public with this until after the holidays.
Rachel goes to the supermarket and meets Jasmine. She mentions her new lover (Lonnie) and shows Rachel pictures of their little tryst. Rachel decides to invite Jasmine over for Christmas to spite Cheryl.
Rachel sees Malachi again, leading to an argument because she is so uptight. She explains that she was upset because he took another girl to prom in high school when he originally wanted to go with Rachel, even though it was her that bailed on him. She says she overheard one of Malachi's buddies make a comment on how it was gonna be easy for him to take Rachel to bed that night. Malachi says he broke the guy's nose for that. He and Rachel keep arguing until they kiss.
On Christmas Eve, the sisters try to make their own meals, but both end up getting burnt, and they naturally blame each other for it. As they try to make the food again, they find Grace's little box of recipes. They decide to make something on their own and end up bonding. When Rachel sees how Cheryl has problems of her own, she calls Jasmine and rescinds her invitation.
Walter reads the morning paper and finds out about Christian's campaign's re-zoning plan. Walter confronts his son about this, telling him that they are supposed to help others, and if they can't, they should at least try not to hurt them.
When Walter tries to make the sweet potato pie again, Dee comes by and mentions that Grace always used to smile when she was making it, noting that Walter hasn't been smiling much lately.
On Christmas Day, the family (plus Brooks and Eric) gathers at the table for their meal. As Rachel and Cheryl start arguing, Evan reveals that he found documents that Walter kept as he is trying to sell the house, to everyone's surprise. Evan leaves in a huff, just as Jasmine shows up (she never listened to Rachel's message). Rachel and Lonnie both freak out. Despite their efforts to hide the affair, Jasmine shows the family the pictures of her and Lonnie, exposing his lies to Cheryl. Cheryl calmly gets up and leaves the room, only to return with a rifle and chase Lonnie out of the kitchen. Walter and May stop Cheryl from nearly blowing Lonnie's brains out. Cameron then runs out with the phone to tell the family Evan has been hospitalized from a car accident after taking one too many pills. Walter sits in the room with him and notes how badly Evan misses his mom. Evan breaks down in tears because he wasn't there for his mom when she was sick, but Walter tells him that he was where Grace wanted him to be.
Rachel apologizes to Cheryl for inviting Jasmine. Cheryl forgives her and admits she was a bit overbearing. She asks Rachel to help her out with her divorce.
Christian bails on his campaign team and joins Walter in volunteering at the homeless shelter to feed the poor.
Rachel finds a note from Cheryl with a check for $20,000 to help her through law school. Moments later, Malachi is outside wearing a tux and standing by a limo with a boombox playing music to invite Rachel to make up for the prom night they never had. Rachel runs back into the house, making Malachi think she rejected him, but she comes out wearing her prom dress. They kiss and go have a night together.
Walter is sitting in the kitchen by himself until May joins him. He is still visibly hurt that this is his first Christmas since Grace passed on, but May assures him that he gave her sister a happily ever after. They then try Walter's sweet potato pie for the first time since he took it out of the oven; to their surprise, it is delicious. They invite the rest of the family to go downstairs and join them for a taste.
Songs[]
- "Ain't No Woman (Like the One I Got)" - The Four Tops
- "Jingle Bells"
- "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen"
- "O Come All Ye Faithful" - Stephen J. Rice
- "Magnificent" - Carl Bynes
- "We Wish You a Merry Christmas"
- "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town"
- "Nasty Freestyle" - T-Wayne
- "Children's Story" - Slick Rick
- "Let It Whip" - The Dazz Band
- "I'm the Man" - Kevin Miller featuring Augustine
- "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing"
- "Joy to the World"
- "Jump" - Derek King
- "Superhuman" - Day Underscore
- "One Shot" - Robin Thicke featuring Juicy J
- "Angels We Have Heard on High"
- "The Very Thought of You" - Etta James
- "Throw It Up" - Icy Black
- "No Pressure" - Foolish
- "Machine Gun" - Commodores
- "Tender Love" - Force MDs
- "All I Do is Think of You" - Troop
- "Never Forget It" - Leo Soul
- "Hark the Holidays"
Cast[]
| Actor/actress | Character(s) |
|---|---|
| Danny Glover | Walter |
| Keon Mitchell | Walter (young) |
| Gabrielle Union | Rachel |
| Jaxon Rose Moore (uncredited) | Rachel (young) |
| Mo'Nique | Aunt May |
| Kimberly Elise | Cheryl |
| Kimani Edwards (uncredited) Sanaa Mays (uncredited) |
Cheryl (young) |
| Romany Malco | Christian |
| JB Smoove | Lonnie |
| Jessie T. Usher | Evan |
| Elias Talbert (voice) | Evan (young) |
| John Michael Higgins | Brooks |
| Nicole Ari Parker | Sonya |
| Omar Epps | Malachi |
| Nadej Bailey | Niya |
| Alkoya Brunson | Cameron |
| Marley Taylor | Dee |
| DC Young Fly | Eric |
| Keri Hilson | Jasmine |
| Gladys Knight | Shelter Director Dorothy |
| Chloe Spencer | Shelter Assistant |
| Greg Alan Williams | Pastor Browning |
| Tara Batesole | Rental Car Clerk |
| Jeff Rose | Brian |
| Ric Reitz | Coach Packer |
| Ravi Naidu | Dr. Patel |
| Stephen A. Smith | |
| Tara Jones | Newswoman |
| Monica Brown | Waitress |
| Johnny Land | AAA Guy |
| Teresa Sykes Angel Knight (uncredited) |
Church ladies |
| Karl Bynes | Lead singer |
| Rachel Kylian Lynn Sisson-Talbert (voice) |
Grace (young) |
| A. Sabrena Farmer | Grace (older) |
| David Talbert (voice) | Malaci's Mom |
| Donnie Simpson (voice) | Radio DJ |
| Uncredited | |
| Nargis Aniston | Dental assistant |
| Eric Bell Jr. | Little boy |
| Rick Branch | Church member |
| Niya Davis Steven Freeman Wain Jackson |
Churchgoers |
| Denym Dickson | Homeless Shelter Child |
| Joseph Geoffroy II | Attorney Shopper |
| Emelita Gonzalez Donald Overstreet |
Town Center guests |
| Noah Killingbeck | Town Square kid |
| Taniesha Latrice Harold McLeod II Sarai Tinck Angel Yvonne |
Church members |
| Daniel Lucente | Diner patron |
| Andrea Maiuro | Store shopper |
| Clay Neal | Praise team |
| Ryan Newton | Football player |
| Richard Reynolds Jr. | Choir member |
| LondonRose Sellars | Homeless girl |
| Alvin Streeter Jr. | Christmas Village parent |
| Travis Thompson | Shopper |
| Rachel Tracy | Nurse |
| Aaron Wiggins | Jeffrey |
| Eric Word | Cook |
| Chanel Young | Grocery Store shopper |
Videos[]
External links[]
- Almost Christmas at the Internet Movie Database
- Almost Christmas at the Movie Database
- Almost Christmas at Rotten Tomatoes