Sanaa Lathan and Taye Diggs as Robyn and Harper in “The Best Man Holiday”
It’s tricky to make a dramedy that also mixes in sex and rude humor. But instead of slapstick gags and tasteless jokes, “The Best Man Holiday,” opening Friday, takes a surprisingly poignant look at a group of friends reunited for the first time since we met them in 1999’s “The Best Man.”
Over the years, fortunes have been made and lost, children have been born, and embarrassing clips have surfaced online.
“This is the reality of life after the fairy tale ends,” says Regina Hall, who plays Candy, a former stripper whose past comes back to haunt her. She and her husband Julian (Harold Perrineau) struggle to deal with parts of her youth that neither wants to remember, as other characters from the first movie deal with new dramas.
Malcolm D. Lee is back as both writer and director.
“Such a big ensemble cast is hard for a filmmaker,” adds Hall. “It’s like baby-sitting a group of kindergartners. But for us actors, it’s like sleepaway camp.”
“The Best Man Holiday” takes place during a Christmas reunion at the New Jersey mansion of Lance (Morris Chestnut), now a top football player with the Giants. His former best friend Harper (Taye Diggs) may or may not be trying to write an unauthorized biography of the star athlete. Harper was in big trouble in the first film for writing a “novel” that was a little too close to home for his friends.
Meanwhile Harper’s wife Robyn (Sanaa Lathan) is very pregnant with their first child, yet can’t help but be jealous of her husband’s friendship with Jordan (Nia Long), a high-powered, high-heeled TV producer who’s still single and unwilling to sacrifice her work for love.“Definitely, all these kinds of characters exist in real life,” says Lathan. “One of the things I love about Malcolm’s writing is that it’s universal. Everyone knows someone who is like one of these characters. Whether you’re black or white, young or old, people can identify with what these characters are dealing with.”
That said, Lathan believes the film will hold special resonance for African-American audiences since it stars not one or two black actors, but eight.
“Black people are hungry for this kind of movie,” she says. “Simply because it’s nice to be able to see yourself [reflected] on the screen. It’s getting better, but in the majority of movies we don’t see ourselves.”
Lathan says it’s hard for white audiences to understand what it’s like for black kids growing up and going to movies that usually feature mostly white casts.
“Imagine what that does to your subconscious,” she says. “It works on your self-esteem in a very subtle but very powerful way that is real − and can be damaging.”
Very little of the humor in “The Best Man Holiday” has anything to do with race, though the friends can’t help but take a few jabs when Jordan brings home her new white boyfriend. Robyn calls him a “tall vanilla latte.” Harper jokes that the new boyfriend must like “dating chocolate girls.”
Then there’s Harper’s literary agent, who tells Harper what he wants to see in his new book, and at the same time may be writer-director Lee’s wink at the audience about his own goals for the movie. The agent says he wants the new book to be smart, “and not just ‘black people smart.’”
Long says that line from the book agent “definitely personifies the film,” and that this is a movie about struggles that anyone in love can relate to, regardless of race.
Of her independent character, Jordan, Long says, “To love deeply and reap the benefits of love, you have to be vulnerable. I truly believe the professional contemporary woman is doing it all.
“I think you should have your children when it works for you, as long as your biological clock allows that. There is so much pressure from society to have your kids early. But I had my first child at 30 and second at 40. I would encourage all women who are on the fence about whether they want to have children, there is never a perfect time, do it if you can, you will never regret it.”
There’s at least one person though, who may not be able to relate to “The Best Man Holiday” — Long’s older son, who’s 12.
“My son has no desire to see any of my movies,” the actress jokes. “So I’m hoping if I do a big fancy sci-fi movie, he’ll see it and say, ‘Oh mom, I love what you do.’ ”
jsilverman@nydailynews.com
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