It’s “Almost Christmas” y’all, and this movie should be on the list of movies to go see next. Recent widower, Walter, (Danny Glover), is learning to cope without his late wife during his first holiday season without her. After 50+ years of marriage, he is reminded of her everywhere he goes. By the time it reaches Christmas, he doesn’t even have the urge to get out of bed. He walks downstairs and imagines her cooking in the kitchen. He goes to the shelter that she built from the ground up and imagines her there. He sees the decorations for Christmas in the neighborhood and his eyes water. Christmas was their one special holiday, because that was when all their children would come back home and spend time with them.
One by one, his five children, their spouse(s) and their children join him for Christmas break, per usual, but nothing is the same without their mama/Grandmother. Walter is found searching high and low for his late wife’s recipes, but especially for her sweet potato pie recipe but has no luck. His daughters Rachel (Gabriele Union) and Cheryl (Kimberly Elise) are two out of the five of his children who don’t get along, but try to help him find their mom’s recipe stash.
By the time dinner time comes around, the whole family is together and come to the dinner table to see what their Aunt May whipped up, but no one was willing to eat. Aunt May is played by comedian, Mo’Nique, whom is Walter’s sister in law. Now, anyone who grew up in a black family has to have an Auntie like Aunt May. Her character will have you laughing until you just about pee your pants. At least, that’s what happened while I was watching this, only because I have an Aunt just like her and we’ve experienced similar things that the characters did involving this Aunt in the movie. She will cuss you out, smack you upside your head, and look at you with the death stare if you don’t straighten up and “act like you got some common damn sense”. (I’m telling you, she’s hilarious).
The more the movie goes on, the more you learn about each character and their relationship to their late mother and their relationship with each other. “Almost Christmas” is definitely a must-watch!