The Best Man Holiday Is A Sequel??

I didn't have many expectations when I went to see The Best Man Holiday.

The last thing I would have guessed is that it was a sequel. The original The Best Man came out in 1999. I kinda wish I knew that before watching this one. However, it really didn't affect my experience. I think Malcolm D. Lee realized he'd have to give us all of the important information again anyway... both a strength and a weakness of this film. At points it feels as though these relationships really do make sense and are very well founded. But then there is the over explanation and repetition of the same plot point. It happens multiple times throughout.

I actually had an alright time watching this movie. I think the cast was very good. They all knew who they were and what they represented.

Taye Diggs is just a damn good actor. Terrence Howard managed not to piss me off for the first time in a while.

Nia Long was always cool. And I enjoyed the light freckles of complexity she allowed into her character. And Sanaa Lathan was such a pleasant surprise from start to finish.

What was odd to me, Harold Perrineau felt underutilized. In the past I've found him to show the widest range of everyone in this cast. But his entire storyline felt reserved... like they needed to hold him back. In that sense I felt his performance became a casualty to Malcolm D. Lee's vision. But then as a whole I suppose I wish, for all the talent involved, that the final product felt a little less cheeky... melodramatic... and cliche.

But how did this happen?

How did a melodramedy from 1999 with so-so reviews manage to garner a sequel fourteen years later? Not only that, how is it that there's going to be a third one? There may be something interesting to this question... Looking at the cast, almost all of them have done enough to become recognizable at this point. Perhaps the time felt right to revisit old friends (much like the plot of the movie) and see how far everyone had come. And I've gotta say, I do appreciate that.