Well, from the little press I saw regarding this movie when it first came out, I'll admit I wasn't running to the theater. (I wasn't even running to the video store.) However, when it came on HBO recently, my sister told me to sit down and watch it, to compare it to our family.
This movie was almost scary in how closely it mimicked our gatherings (especially funerals, but all gatherings in general). I really felt like the writers knew us, as they hit several depictions right on the head.
The Slocums are more the typical Black family than most movies will show nowadays--sure there are a few people who lose their way now and again, but family brings them back around. (What family isn't slightly dysfunctional anyway? It just makes family gatherings more amusing. Heck--my family even has the three holy-terror-boys who run around every gathering destroying everything.)
I'm not going to say that the acting was outstanding, or the script completely original because it wasn't. THE SCRIPT WAS REALISTIC, THOUGH. It wasn't original because anyone could have sat through a funeral in their family and copied things word for word. I do recommend this movie. The last minute is a little cheesy, but hey, the rest of the movie works so well that you accept it. There weren't any unnecessary curses, gratuitous violence or sex. It was just a movie about family. What is more real than that?
This is the ultimate feel-good movie because you feel like it is real. Some movies are just too contrived, but I had to smile to myself at the end of this movie. It shows how the strength of your family helps you cope and heal together.
