The true power of film resides in its ability to draw the audience in, to fully immerse the viewer, so that for two blissful hours, the line between what is real and what is fiction disappears. But during This Christmas, the sickeningly sweet holiday movie from writer-director Preston Whitmore, that line between reality and cinema magic is in Sharpie. The film follows the Whitfields, a quasi-dysfunctional family that is spending the holidays together for the first time in four years. Everything seems fine until the old family issues resurface and Christmas descends into chaos. But, because a family can get through anything if there's love in their hearts (and because departing from the feel-good movie formula would be scandalous), the Whitfields get their merry Christmas in the end. The audience, on the other hand, is not so lucky.
This Christmas's problem is not just that it's cheesy, but that despite all the sentimental, Christmas-is-a-time-for-family moments, it fails to evoke any emotion. The viewer merely sits there, apathetic, struggling to sympathize with characters who are nearly impossible to care about. The film is not without highlights, however. Lisa Whitfield (King), in beating her philandering husband with a belt, provides a dose of much-needed comic relief, and a subplot involving the youngest Whitfield son and his desire to sing is surprisingly touching. But ultimately, This Christmas, despite its earnest attempt to pull at America's heartstrings, fails to convince the audience to spend their Christmas with the Whitfields.
