The only real flaw of this movie is the cast. And I don't mean that the cast was bad. The cast was excellent. You just can tell that the first movie was made for the cast to fit the story. This second movie was made for the story to fit the cast.
They really didn't need every single returning character to have a storyline or character-arc. Nia Long (with her boyfriend and commitment issues) and Melissa De Sousa's storylines (with her daughter and other drama) could have been cut completely, and it would have made the central story much tighter, with less dramatic tone shifts and distractions. The sub-storyline of Nia Long and Monica's friendship could have been explored more instead of the relationship with a boyfriend we barely see or care about. I guess the writers/director felt that if they got the entire cast together, they had to write them each significant storylines.
This felt like a directors edition instead of a theatrical version because of how overstuffed it was. It's hard to even say what the climax of the movie was because there was about 15 more minutes of storyline and emotional highs after what should have been the climax. Shave 20 minutes off the movie and get rid of the repetition and scenes that just didn't fit (last scene with Terrence and Melissa) and the movie would have been much better.
That said, I did enjoy it. Loved the music, especially the Christmas songs and the New Edition scene. Terrence Howard stole the show. And there were some beautifully acted scenes from Regina, Monica, Morris, Taye Diggs, and Terrence. I actually was surprised at the football scene. It was well filmed for the most part.
Oh yeah, one other minor complaint. The casting for the children was awful


. I mean I understand kids can look different from their parents, but that little boy was supposed to be Morris and Monica's son?


Spoiler below
It's a shame Nia and Taye Diggs never hooked up. They have the best sexual chemistry of anyone in the movies, including all of the married couples. I really don't see any chemistry between Taye Diggs and Sanna's character.
Edited by Random Thoughts - Nov 16 2013 at 1:53am