Almost Christmas is a surprisingly charming comedy that will certainly not disappoint. The movie revolves around a diverse family trying to celebrate Christmas, about a year after the death of their mother. The father of the family, Walter Meyer, who used to be a mechanic, has been taking the loss the hardest, but he has tried to do his best to stay strong for the family. Because the holiday season has finally arrived along with Christmas, he invites the entire family over. Although everything sounds easy, when he invites all four of his children over to his house, including their spouses and children, as well as his sister in-law, he knows that bickering is inevitable. Even though most families have to deal with fighting during Christmas time, they have nothing on this family, because wild events occur that nearly divide the entire family as they literally turn on one another, proving that this dysfunctional family is unlike any other on the big screen before. Other than for receiving his wife back, Walter only wants one Christmas miracle, and it's that he wants his family to be able to get along for five days. However, his wish may be asking for too much.  
 

Although Almost Christmas is a little formulaic, the plot of the movie is still capable of entertaining and becoming an enjoyable journey. The beginning of the movie brilliantly sets up the movie for success as audiences are immediately introduced to all of the characters on screen, as well as their relationships with one another. The middle of the movie does a magnificent job of progressing things along and creating new, creative obstacles for the characters that aid in making the movie substantially more interesting. The enticing ending of the movie proves to be heartwarming as it leaves a smile on viewer's faces, because its themes about family and love are clearly elucidated through drama and symbolism. Even though the concept of the movie sounds pretty standard, there are actually a solid amount of intriguing twists and turns that turn the predictable into the unpredictable in a manner that is sure to keep audiences on the edges of their seats. 

 Almost Christmas is capable of making viewers feel an entire spectrum of emotions. There's happiness, sadness, fury, excitement, energy, laziness, and just about every emotion out there as the family finally begins to bond again in an unorthodox manner that includes nearly tearing each other to pieces.  

 As a comedy, Almost Christmas should be hilarious, and the movie certainly is. There are several great scenes that come to mind, but a few of them are too good to spoil. However, one great scene involves the entire family being forced to deal with their aunt's awful cooking that involves them forcing one of the youngest kids to try the food first as he shouts in terror, as if his life was in danger from eating a spoonful of her food. Another fantastic scene involves one character trying to set up Christmas lights, thinking that he's smart enough to set them up by himself, but he ends up falling down from the roof of the house.

 Almost Christmas is able to accomplish so much thanks to a tremendous cast that shines. Gabrielle Union does a spectacular job of playing Rachel, who's one of the daughters of Walter. Mo'Nique is able to bring spunk into the character of Aunt May, and it really seems like she has fun with her role. Danny Glover does a fantastic job of portraying Walter and is able to bring a lot of emotion and intensity to the film. However, the biggest star of the movie is probably J. B. Smoove, who is able to jam-pack the movie with thrilling humor and gift the movie with some of its best scenes. 

 Even though Almost Christmas has the potential to become beloved by many, critics strangely didn't feel the same level of satisfaction. Rotten Tomatoes gave the movie a mediocre 50%, and IMDb gave the movie a somewhat low 6.1/10. However, an outstanding 90% of Google users liked the movie, which should help to push critics' opinions aside, because they are generally known to give lower scores to comedies, so their opinions shouldn't have the largest impact on potential viewers. 

 Almost Christmas is a truly funny comedy that is sure to conjure up some laughter, because it combines drama, superb acting, and family drama to create one of the most relatable Christmas movies of all time. This is definitely a must-see.