Over Veterans Day weekend, Almost Christmas was released in theaters. It was a heartfelt, family friendly movie for all those to love. The simply fun movie was conjured by director David E. Talerbet.

The film starts with a husband and wife duo. Though the mother’s face isn’t shown in the film, her warmth and heart is there. Husband Walter Meyer, played by Danny Glover, is a man deeply in love with his wife. When they began to have kids, his love widens and touches the heart of the audience.

Their children are daughters Rachel, played by Gabriel Union, a struggling mother in law school that has sworn off men; and Cheryl (Kimberly Elise), the eldest daughter, who is married Lonnie, played by J.B Smoove. The two sisters have never gotten along and find it difficult to put aside their differences and stop the bickering.

The sons are Christian, played by Romany Malco, a working man in politics attempting to get elected. Evan, the youngest of the bunch, is played by Jessie T. Usher. His character is suffering the hardest from the loss of his mother. He takes pain killers to ease the pain of a football injury and soon becomes addicted.

This dysfunction family has gathered together for the first time after their mother’s death. All under one roof again, the arguments begin to take control. Walter only wants his family to come together these next few days before Christmas without any problems. That would be a true Christmas miracle for the Meyer family.

Intriguingly, in the film, there is a shelter very significant to Walter. It is the shelter that his wife was pushed into after her struggling family lost their house. After that, her and Walter would give to the shelter every single Christmas. It became a part of Walter, especially after his wife passed. Later, he finds that his own son, Christian, is working with people in his political party and they plan to tear down the shelter. Walter is determined that it will not go down without a fight, that it is too important to the families that live in the shelter.

Throughout the film, it is a constant struggle between siblings, as Walter tries to unite his family for this holiday, to bring the familiar love of his family, even without his wife to guide them through. Overall, this movie was lively, funny and heartwarming. The characters in this movie brought an emotional realness to the screen.

The movie ends with the family enjoying a dessert their mother used to make for them. This movie is loving, charming and very comedic, as this family struggles to come together as one and get along. It perfectly melts together a classic to be enjoyed over the years during the holiday season. It promotes tears as you watch a family struggle over the death of a loved one.

Talerbet did a remarkable job creating this film with award winning actors and actresses melded together and became a big family onscreen, playing perfectly into their roles.