As I have said before, part of the intrigue of going to the Cinema is sitting with a room full of strangers. A shared emotional response to a movie, be it fear, laughter or tears, adds to the quality of the experience. This simply cannot be replicated with a DVD in the friendly confines of your own home.

This is especially true when the audience reflects a certain demographic, particularly one that you don't belong to. In that regard, I had the same pleasurable experience watching Preston Whitmore's "This Christmas" that I had with Tyler Perry's "Why did I Get Married."

In both cases, I was the only Caucasian in a rather crowded theater. While this decent and unpretentious movie makes for enjoyable holiday fare on its own, the enthusiastic response by the audience undeniably contributed to my enjoyment of this film.

To say that the movie has a fairly predictable holiday theme is not meant as an unkind slap. Delroy Lindo is perfect as the common law husband of Loretta Devine, the matriarch of the rather dysfunctional Whitfield family. While she still pines for the husband who left her years before, she takes for granted the steadfast support provided by the otherwise pedestrian Mr. Lindo.

Her children are all battling their own personal demons. Regina King and Jessica Stroup are quite good as sisters who have little in common. Ms. Stroup plays a single career oriented college grad while Ms. King suffers in a destructive marriage with a philandering husband.

Columbus Short comes very close to stealing this movie as the prodigal, saxophone-playing son who returns home while being chased by two eccentric enforcers trying to collect on bad gambling debts. Finally, Chris Brown effectively plays the youngest son, called "Baby", who, to no one's surprise, wants to pursue a singing career.

Marriages break-up; siblings don't get along; family members are estranged; spouses have affairs and others have dark secrets. Yet the strength of this un-presupposing little movie is the telling of the timeless tale of the holidays serving as a magnet that forges a unifying family bond from its otherwise fractured parts.

With the exception of a token white girlfriend, all of the central characters were African American. As I sat there, I could not help but think how white moviegoers were missing out on a film far more humane and poignant than more celebrated recent misfires such as "Dan in Real Life."

While all of the Whitfield clan are obviously flawed, that made them all the more real. In addition, as with Tyler Perry's movies, it soon becomes clear that the many females in the audience identified with the Whitfield women. All of these females are inherently strong women who stand up for each other and themselves, and they present an image that obviously resonates with the female audience. This is particularly true in an hysterical crowd pleasing scene where the fed up Ms. King takes a belt to her cheating husband as he steps out of the shower onto a floor covered with baby oil.

As I noted in an earlier review of Perry's "Why Did I Get Married", the plight of many African American women is a national disgrace. Frequently objectified in their own culture, many end up robbed of their personal dignity while dropping out of school and becoming single mothers at a very young age.

Movies like "This Christmas" show them standing up and fighting back. If possible, do yourself a favor and see it at Glendale with an African American crowd. The audience gets what this movie is about, and you will to, if only through osmosis.

Finally, make sure you stick around through the credits, as there is a thoroughly wonderful, extended scene involving all of the principal characters dancing. Extemporaneous and off-the-cuff, it is quite obvious that the cast had a wonderful time making this movie.