''The Perfect Holiday'' is a 2007 American

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

Lance Rivera Lance "Un" Rivera is an American film director, film producer, screenwriter, record producer, and music executive. Career Lance Rivera began his musical career when he met neighborhood rapper Christopher Wallace, who performed under the name B ...

, starring

Gabrielle Union Gabrielle Monique Union-Wade ( Union; born October 29, 1972) is an American actress. Her career began in the 1990s, when she made dozens of appearances on television sitcoms, prior to landing supporting roles in 1999 teen films '' She's All That ...

Morris Chestnut Morris Lamont Chestnut (born January 1, 1969) is an American actor. He first came to prominence for his role as Ricky in the 1991 film ''Boyz n the Hood''. He has appeared in feature films such as ''G.I. Jane'', ''The Brothers (2001 film), The B ...

, Charlie Murphy, and

Terrence Howard Terrence Dashon Howard (born March 11, 1969) is an American actor performing on film and television. He has received a Screen Actors Guild Awards, Screen Actors Guild Award as well as nominations for an Academy Awards, Academy Award, a Golden ...

, and is produced by

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

-nominated actress

Queen Latifah Dana Elaine Owens (born March 18, 1970), known professionally by her stage name Queen Latifah, is an American rapper, singer, and actress. She has received various accolades, including a Grammy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe ...

, who also serves as narrator. The film was released on December 12, 2007. It was also the first film by Destination Films to receive a wide release since ''

Beautiful Beautiful, an adjective used to describe things as possessing beauty, may refer to: Film and theater * ''Beautiful'' (2000 film), an American film directed by Sally Field * ''Beautiful'' (2008 film), a South Korean film directed by Juhn Jai-h ...

''.

Plot

Benjamin (Morris Chestnut) is an aspiring songwriter who attempts to break into the music business by giving a copy of his recording track of a

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

album to a

rap Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates " rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backin ...

artist named J-Jizzy ( Charles Q. Murphy). Nancy (Union) is a divorced mother, who is too busy taking care of her three children to take care of herself. Her daughter Emily (Khail Bryant) overhears her mother say that she wished for a compliment from a man, and the daughter tells the local mall's

Santa Claus Santa Claus (also known as Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle or Santa) is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring gifts during the late evening and overnight hours on Chris ...

about her mother's wish. The Santa Claus turns out to be Benjamin, who notices Nancy. Later, while sitting in a

Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational List of coffeehouse chains, chain of coffeehouses and Starbucks Reserve, roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gor ...

after his shift as Santa, Benjamin and his friend Jamal (

Faizon Love Faizon Andre Love (born Langston Faizon Santisima; June 14, 1968) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his roles in the comedy films '' The Meteor Man'', '' Don't Be a Menace'', ''Friday'', '' B*A*P*S'', '' Blue Crush'', '' Th ...

) see Nancy go into a dry cleaners. Benjamin borrows Jamal's jacket, pretends to drop it off at the cleaners, tells Nancy that she's a very attractive woman (granting her wish), and leaves. Eventually, the two start to date and end up falling in love—without Ben realizing that Nancy's ex-husband is J-Jizzy. Things take a turn for the worse, however, because Nancy's oldest son, John-John (Malik Hammond) is jealous of Benjamin going out with his mother and plots to break up the relationship. What follows is a series of funny and touching scenes that show viewers what "family" is really about.

and

play

omniscient Omniscience is the property of possessing maximal knowledge. In Hinduism, Sikhism and the Abrahamic religions, it is often attributed to a divine being or an all-knowing spirit, entity or person. In Jainism, omniscience is an attribute that any ...

roles in the movie. Howard is a mischievous and sly angel named "Bah Humbug", while Latifah is the kind, thoughtful angel, called "Mrs. Christmas".

Cast

as Nancy Taylor *

as Benjamin Armstrong * Charlie Murphy as J-Jizzy *Malik Hammond as John-John Taylor *Jeremy Gumbs as Mikey Taylor *Khail Bryant as Emily Taylor *

as Jamal *

Jill Marie Jones Jill Marie Jones is an American actress and former professional dancer and cheerleader. Jones is best known for her role as Antoinette "Toni" Childs-Garrett on the UPN comedy series, '' Girlfriends'' (2000–2006). Jones has appeared in a ...

as Robin *

Katt Williams Micah "Katt" Williams (born September 2, 1971) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He played Money Mike in '' Friday After Next'', was a recurring guest on '' Wild 'n Out'', portrayed Bobby Shaw in '' My Wife and Kids'', provided the vo ...

as Delicious *

as Mrs. Christmas * Rachel True as Brenda *

as Bah Humbug

Reception

On its opening weekend, it opened poorly at #6 with $2.2 million. The film grossed $5.8 million domestically.

References

External links

*
A Father and Son’s Perfect Holiday - Dad and 7 year old son discuss performing stunts in Queen Latifah's film
at Mosaec.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Perfect Holiday, The 2007 films 2007 romantic comedy films 2000s American films 2000s Christmas films 2000s English-language films African-American films American Christmas comedy films American romantic comedy films English-language Christmas comedy films English-language romantic comedy films Films shot in New Jersey Films scored by Christopher Lennertz