Almost Christmas follows a series of predictable twists, that doesn't negate its charm.

| Original Score: B | Apr 12, 2017

You can't fault the film for its efficiency. Each of these idylls is threatened by a problem that will be solved within a reasonably tidy running time.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Dec 27, 2016

Aside from the traditional spaghetti set-up of conflicts that will unfurl and be resolved with good cheer around the turkey, David E Talbert's film has a rather moving backstory about the death of the family matriarch the previous year.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 29, 2016

Almost unbearable would be a better title.

| Original Score: 1/5 | Nov 24, 2016

Movies where a large family gathers to celebrate Christmas only have to nail one scene, and Almost Christmas does, more or less.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 18, 2016

If the cast is willing, I'm sure other Meyers family reunions will follow, although none is likely to be as sweet as this sugar plum.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 17, 2016

The movie takes a few calamitous turns at its climax, dangerously approaching broad slapstick and villainizing a character we've come to love. But mainly, it's a fun and boisterous countdown to the big meal.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 15, 2016

The Mo'Smoove factor is such a sure thing, it seems writer/director David E. Talbert barely bothered giving them a script to work with.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Nov 13, 2016

Talbert's sweet potato pie makes for a treat, with a enough laughs to keep us going until the exact right moment for some tears.

| Original Score: B | Nov 12, 2016

The committed performances by the cast of talented actors are what elevates Almost Christmas above complaints about its familiarity and melodrama.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Nov 11, 2016

Almost Christmas goes light enough on the clich and gives the stacked cast - which also includes J.B. Smoove, Gabrielle Union, Omar Epps and Romany Malco - enough decent material that the film remains relatively lively.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Nov 11, 2016

It's as predictable as your aunt's holiday stuffing, but the cast finds some places to open up the material.

| Original Score: C | Nov 11, 2016

On a few, all-too-rare occasions, comedic sparks fly.

| Original Score: 1.5/4 | Nov 10, 2016

The epiphanies go down like eggnog, along with the smooth R'n'B and jazz on the soundtrack.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Nov 10, 2016

"Almost Christmas" is an often disarmingly entertaining picture, in spite of its being a not particularly well-thought-out cinematic contrivance.

| Nov 10, 2016

Almost Christmas plays both sides of the comedy-drama equation broadly, which serves one at the expense of the other.

| Nov 10, 2016

The film's energy can be relentless, but the feelings are real, and they're wrapped in a dysfunctional-family package that's so venerable and endearing as to seem a little bit new.

| Nov 10, 2016

A standard entry in a formulaic genre, though the actors occasionally sparkle.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Nov 10, 2016

Give [Talbert] a potful of holiday movie clichs and he's good to go.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Nov 10, 2016

Is it a good movie? Not particularly.

| Original Score: 1.5/4 | Nov 10, 2016