Prime Time: This Christmas (2007)

As is evidenced by the many posters you can view and by almost every Hallmark TV movie you can choose to view, Christmas movies are largely populated by smiling, white, heterosexual characters all just waiting to kiss the right person under the mistletoe. You do get exceptions, and some of those exceptions have opened the gates for some better movies, but straight, white people still seem to be the norm. I watch many of those movies, some would say that I watch more of them than anyone should, but I do try to widen my viewing options sometimes. When I remember.

This Christmas is a traditional Christmas movie that features a superb cast portraying members of an African American family, the Whitfields (headed up by a matriarch, Ma’Dere, played by Loretta Devine). Everyone has their various problems and/or secrets, but the ones who get more screentime are Lisa (Regina King), a woman married to a man who is taking her for granted, Quentin (Idris Elba), a man home for the holidays while he also tries to evade some bad people he owes money to, and Claude (Columbus Short), a young soldier who has a partner he is reluctant to introduce to the whole family. Then there’s Joseph aka Big Joe (Delroy Lindo), a man living with Ma’Dere while they pretend otherwise in front of some visiting relatives. There’s more going on, a young woman has a good time with a man who is also playing the role of a Santa Claus and one young man is hiding a great singing voice, but those characters I have just named, and their issues, are kept to the fore.

Written and directed by Preston A. Whitmore II, This Christmas is an easy film to enjoy, and a typically sweet-natured and soft-centred seasonal treat. There are scenes that add a bit of grit and/or tension, but they don’t play out long enough to be too jarring in amongst the more standard family scenes.

I will praise the cast in a moment, but it’s worth praising the soundtrack while I remember. A few tunes are well-used throughout, as well as a fantastic number that plays out over the first part of the end credits while the cast get to shake their stuff in turn. It’s a good way to ensure that any residue of sour taste is washed away, and people should be smiling once the screen turns to black.

Short is just fine in his role, but both King and Elba are strong favourites of mine, and both shine in their roles here. They help to elevate the material, basically showing some of the younger cast members how it’s done. Devine is suited to her role, and she plays a character who also needs to learn a lesson on the way to the big finale, and Lindo is . . . well, look, point me to a film on which Lindo isn’t fantastic and I will hold up a mirror in front of your face and point you to a liar. I hope that clarifies how I always feel about Lindo. Everyone else does sterling work, and me not mentioning them by name isn’t to dismiss their performance entirely. It’s just that most of those I just named are big favourites of mine.

This gives you everything you could want from this type of film, and it feels like everything has been put together with a bit more care, and less of a view towards simply delivering a package of Christmas sweetness. The characters grow as the film unfolds, and the satisfying results feel earned. Well, they certainly feel more earned than your usual Christmas movie endings.

7/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews

Divergent (2014)

Based on a novel by Veronica Roth (the first in a trilogy), Divergent is another movie aimed squarely at the Young Adult market. It focuses on a young woman who ends up being trained for combat in a system that rewards those not up to the task with a type of banishment, or sometimes even possible death. It's also about a society ruled by people who may not always have the best interests of the public at heart. Despite these similarities, and one or two others, this ISN'T The Hunger Games. Even if it hopes to grab a piece of that pie. It's actually a bit better than The Hunger Games, in my opinion.

Shailene Woodley plays Tris, a young girl living in a society that is determined to avoid another major war. To ensure this, everyone is sorted in to one of five factions. There's a test to be taken just before you choose the faction, but you're still supposed to be able to choose a different faction if you wish. It just makes you stand out a bit if you don't follow on the path set down by your parents. The five factions are Abnegation (selfless), Erudite (intelligent), Amity (peaceful), Candor (honest), and Dauntless (brave). When Tris takes her test she is advised to pretend that she had to leave early after taking sick. It turns out that she's divergent, able to think more independently than most and not be so easily controlled. Divergents are viewed as dangerous. And Tris makes her situation worse when she goes to the choosing ceremony the next day and decides to give the Dauntless faction a go. She doesn't realise just how tough the training will be, and falling too low on the scoreboard is not an option when the consequence is being sent away to live outwith any of the factions.

Although it runs for over two hours (it's about 140 minutes, approximately), Divergent doesn't feel overlong or bloated. There are plenty of action beats that help to move things along, and the inevitable potential romance is evenly spread out throughout the second half of the film, making it less likely to induce vomiting. The screenplay by Vanessa Taylor and Evan Daugherty does a great job of getting, and keeping, viewers up to speed without grinding proceedings to a complete halt, although there are times when it's a very close call.

Director Neil Burger makes all of the right choices for the material. It's generally light, although one or two moments do venture into impressively dark territory, the soundtrack has some tracks that teenage girls should enjoy, the action is solid, although it doesn't get in the way of the character moments, and there are so many odds stacked against Tris that every small victory has the potential to make viewers smile/breathe a sigh of relief.

There's also the cast. Woodley isn't a particularly strong lead, but she's acceptable enough in the role. Theo James, as Four (a Dauntless man who takes a shine to Tris), is suitably strong and handsome, and Jai Courtney plays a bit of a git, which works perfectly considering how much I dislike him anyway. Miles Teller and Zoe Kravitz are the two other Dauntless recruits who stand out from the pack, for different reasons, and then there are supporting roles for Ashley Judd and Kate Winslet, with the latter somehow managing to be brilliant every time she's onscreen despite often appearing to deliver more exposition.

I hoped to get through Divergent without hating it, or myself, too much. It turned out to be quite a pleasant surprise. So much so that I'm now looking forward to the sequel.

7/10

http://www.amazon.com/Divergent-Blu-Ray-digital-download-certificate/dp/B00GQQ77IU/ref=sr_1_6_twi_2_twi_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1420319217&sr=8-6&keywords=divergent

You know how you can show your appreciation for bloggers? If you share and share then every additional reader helps. Connect through Google or Blogger or any way you can, and rest easy in the knowledge that you've made little ol' me a very happy man.

And/or you could also buy my e-book, that has almost every review I've written over the past 5 years. It's very reasonably priced for the sheer amount of content.

The UK version can be bought here - http://www.amazon.co.uk/TJs-Ramshackle-Movie-Guide-Reviews-ebook/dp/B00J9PLT6Q/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1395945647&sr=1-3&keywords=movie+guide

And American folks can buy it here - http://www.amazon.com/TJs-Ramshackle-Movie-Guide-Reviews-ebook/dp/B00J9PLT6Q/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395945752&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=TJs+ramshackle+mov

As much as I love the rest of the world, I can't keep up with all of the different links in different territories, but trust me when I say that it should be there on your local Amazon.