The Best Man Holiday 2013

Kyle Smith, New York Post: The mix of raunchy sex comedy and Christian faith doesn't quite come off. Read more

Soren Anderson, Seattle Times: The actors play their characters with such depth of feeling that they make even the most cliched and hokum-drenched situations resonate with unexpected levels of emotional authenticity. Read more

Andrew Barker, Variety: The cluttered, overlong narrative never really finds its footing. Read more

Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, AV Club: The conclusions are familiar -- friendship provides support, death makes squabbles seem petty, what's past is past -- but far from meaningless. Read more

Randy Cordova, Arizona Republic: The cast is great fun, each getting his or her own moment to shine. Read more

Jocelyn Noveck, Associated Press: It's like a reunion. If you already know these characters, you're good. If you don't, you'll be standing against that wall, alone, with that wine in a paper cup. Read more

Peter Keough, Boston Globe: Luckily there's a lot to keep us entertained before things take a turn for the worse. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: The hangout factor with this cast is considerable. And the movie, while nothing visually special, earns its queen-sized dose of pathos honestly. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: "The Best Man Holiday" gives holidays a bad name. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: The Best Man Holiday is an eggnog that's sticky-sweet and heavy at the same time. Read more

Kate Erbland, Film.com: An admirably adult holiday feature that doesn't balk at real feelings. Read more

Wesley Morris, Grantland: You leave emotionally exhausted, but there's a lot of care in this movie. Read more

Stephen Farber, Hollywood Reporter: All in all, this long-delayed sequel is a very mixed bag, with just enough laughter and tears to squeak by as holiday entertainment. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: The film does feel overlong and the tone is occasionally wobbly. But Lee keeps the pace generally steady, mixing comedy and melodrama in even amounts. Read more

Nicolas Rapold, New York Times: Even if some of the crudeness and the drama feel forced, it's hard to hate. Read more

Michael Sragow, Orange County Register: The sequel to a deft romantic ensemble hit tries too hard to add heartbreak, uplift and religious, family values messages to the comedy-drama. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: The problem is that it doesn't aim particularly high and, when the tears have dried and the cheers have subsided, there's a sense that what the movie offers is disappointingly ephemeral. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: The people in "The Best Man Holiday" - not just the actors, but the characters they play - deserved a better script than this. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Pure drivel. Read more

Kevin C. Johnson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Though not so warm and fuzzy as some fans may expect, "The Best Man Holiday" is a more than fitting return that improves upon the original in unexpected ways. Read more

Geoff Pevere, Globe and Mail: A movie that does to your emotions exactly what one player does to another on the big Christmas game day: slams them to the ground and stomps them silly. Read more

Linda Barnard, Toronto Star: The Best Man Holiday is akin to getting a massive, gorgeously wrapped Christmas present and opening it to find a pair of socks. Read more

Alonso Duralde, TheWrap: We all have our favorite flavors of seasonal schmaltz. The kind that The Best Man Holiday serves up was, for me at least, too hard to swallow. Read more

Sam Adams, Time Out: The script's sporadic silliness makes every plot turn questionable; how the talent deftly negotiates such goofiness makes the film near-impossible to resist. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: Only a few charming tidbits are nestled snugly in this over-stuffed Christmas stocking. Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Village Voice: Like the dazzling, canny comedy of Key and Peele, it acknowledges that it's futile to speak of a single black experience; at this point in America, we're all a mess of experiences. Read more

Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine/Vulture: The Best Man Holiday is an inelegant movie, but its cast is so damn likable that we're still willing to follow them - even when they're not going anywhere. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: "The Best Man Holiday" possesses all the strengths and weaknesses of banal, high-gloss mainstream entertainment: It's boringly, bracingly, gratifyingly conventional. No shame in that game. Read more