Now that I think about it, I was way too young to love The Best Man as much as I did when the first film released in 1999. Fourteen years later, however, Director Malcolm D. Lee has managed to bring all of the joy and love I had for those characters back, in the 2013 sequel, Best Man Holiday.

Of course, the film opens as we see NY Times Best Selling author, Harper Stewart, struggling with his career while trying to ensure a healthy pregnancy with his very pregnant wife, Robyn. Jordyn, still the successful independent woman, introduces us to her Caucasian boyfriend. Julian and Candy are running a private school that is under serious heat from what seems to be a look into Candy’s past. Lance, our football star, is 127 yards away from a new record and his soft spoken and amazingly kind wife Mia, is still just as beautiful (and now a mom of four).

Mia’s invite to get everyone together at their home for Christmas is how we get the gang back together and boy does it go down! The week is filled with a whole lotta good, sad and ugly! It’s also where we are reintroduced to Shelby and her little girl (who da baby daddy?) and a still swagged-out playboy, Q (who may just be my favorite character).

I was engaged the entire movie! I cried, laughed, cried as I laughed… It kept me on the edge of my seat as I wasn’t sure what was going to happen. Would Harper and Lance become friends again? Would Robyn ever really forgive Jordan? Why was Mia so adamant about getting everyone back together?

This was a good quality cast with the right amount of humor, emotion, chemistry, you name it. Most of all, I think this movie showed that black films can still be positive and substantial. It’s not always about the comedy and what I’ve heard described as “Coonery.” The Best Man holiday was about the power of family and friendship, in this modern day!

As difficult as it was to get funding for this Malcolm, thank you! Bottom line: GO SEE BEST MAN HOLIDAY!

The Cast (courtesy of Wikipedia):

• Taye Diggs as Harper Stewart, the protagonist of the original film
• Sanaa Lathan as Robin Stewart, Harper’s wife
• Nia Long as Jordan Armstrong, Harper’s close friend from college and former love interest
• Morris Chestnut as Lance Sullivan, Harper’s estranged best friend
• Monica Calhoun as Mia Sullivan, Lance’s wife
• Harold Perrineau as Julian Murch, Harper’s intelligent, mild-mannered good friend
• Regina Hall as Candace “Candy” Murch, Julian’s wife who was once an exotic dancer
• Terrence Howard as Quentin Spivey, Harper’s sly, foul-mouthed good friend
• Melissa De Sousa as Shelby, Julian’s snobbish ex-girlfriend.

Feature photo Courtesy of Global Grind