Every once in a while I find a movie that I just love. Maybe it is the actors or maybe the director or even the style (lighting, mood, setting) better yet, maybe the script. Perhaps it is a combination of all of these factors. There is just something about a movie where everything just works together to make a truly terrific movie. The movie I am referring to is "Home for the Holidays."
This movie somehow reminds me of my own life. Not that I am nearly as attractive as Holly Hunter, I don't live a plane ride away from my family, and certainly my family does not have all the same odd quirks as this one. However, we all have families with weird quirks, we all look forward to the family get together and we are all thankful when the big mess is over. Your family can drive you crazy like no one else can, but they are your family and you love every one of them even though sometime you are not so sure why. We all have that strange Aunt or Uncle, or the person in the family that thinks they are better than everyone else, or the family member that is living a life that not everyone approves of. This movie manages to portray all of this without going over the top. So many movies try and fail in an effort to show families for what they are, strange.
As I mentioned before there are many elements that make this movie just right, so I will not waste your time by mentioning them all, here are just a few. The cast - This movie has really strong performances by all involved but I did find that Cynthia Stevenson did a superb job with her role as the overbearing, perfect and controlling older sibling. Robert Downy Jr. also was great in this movie and I was really surprised to find out that during the shooting of this movie he was using drugs pretty heavily, he plays the part of the sibling that is living a life no one approves of. The script was written strongly and is very witty, there are some great lines in this movie that will stick with you, you can remember them when you are stuck at Thanksgiving Dinner this year.
This movie somehow reminds me of my own life. Not that I am nearly as attractive as Holly Hunter, I don't live a plane ride away from my family, and certainly my family does not have all the same odd quirks as this one. However, we all have families with weird quirks, we all look forward to the family get together and we are all thankful when the big mess is over. Your family can drive you crazy like no one else can, but they are your family and you love every one of them even though sometime you are not so sure why. We all have that strange Aunt or Uncle, or the person in the family that thinks they are better than everyone else, or the family member that is living a life that not everyone approves of. This movie manages to portray all of this without going over the top. So many movies try and fail in an effort to show families for what they are, strange.
As I mentioned before there are many elements that make this movie just right, so I will not waste your time by mentioning them all, here are just a few. The cast - This movie has really strong performances by all involved but I did find that Cynthia Stevenson did a superb job with her role as the overbearing, perfect and controlling older sibling. Robert Downy Jr. also was great in this movie and I was really surprised to find out that during the shooting of this movie he was using drugs pretty heavily, he plays the part of the sibling that is living a life no one approves of. The script was written strongly and is very witty, there are some great lines in this movie that will stick with you, you can remember them when you are stuck at Thanksgiving Dinner this year.
"Who are these people? Where did I even come from?" -Claudia Larson (Holly Hunter)
"If I just met you on the street, if you gave me your phone number, I'd throw it away," Claudia's sister Joanne tells her. (Cynthia Stevenson) "We don't have to like each other," Claudia answers. "We're family."
"I'm giving thanks that we don't have to go through this for another year. Except we do, because those b*****ds went and put Christmas right in the middle, just to punish us." - Adele the Mother (Anne Bancroft)
The only major problem I have with this movie is location. At the beginning of the movie when we are introduced to Holly Hunter's character we are led to believe that she lives in Chicago except all the things around her are located in Baltimore. If you had never been to either place or seen pictures of these places, this would not be a problem at all. There are also a few other mistakes in this movie, but the movie itself far outweighs the mistakes in production. I think this is a fun and warm movie that you should see, it might just remind you of your own Thanksgiving Holiday nightmares.
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