this christmas

it's always interesting to watch a dysfunctional family gather for the holidays, but in this case, the 'secrets' were all too obvious and the characters too flat to persuade you to care. only Delroy Lindo brings some subtlety to his role, and Chris Brown does some nice serenading. there is also an inexplicably long scene of all the characters dancing that doesn't have anything to do with the rest of the movie. so feel free to leave before that part's over. although I thought it was kind of the best part of the movie.