Home For The Holidays (1995)

Home For The Holidays(1995)

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113321/

Dir: Jodie Foster

Perf: Holly Hunter, Robert Downey Jr, Anne Bancroft, Charles Durning, Geraldine Chaplin, Dylan McDermott, Claire Danes, Cynthia Stephenson, Steve Guttenberg, Austin Pendleton, and David Strathairn

I rate this as my favorite Thanksgiving movie. I watch this movie every Thanksgiving, and it always puts me in a good mood. It's a fantastic look at the dysfunction of family, and the insanity that ensues at any holiday gathering.

I must say that I have enjoyed Jodie Foster's acting efforts on a case by case basis. Her younger days as a Disney kid were my favorites; ie.. Bugsy Malone(1976), Freaky Friday(1976), and Candleshoe(1977). Contact(1997) is my favorite of her adult performances. Home For The Holidays is her second directorial effort following Little Man Tate(1991).

This film is a wonderfully diverse, character driven story. Holly Hunter, Cynthia Stephenson and Robert Downey Jr play siblings returning to their childhood home for Thanksgiving. The usual chaos ensues. Differences of opinion, secrets, guests and a garden hose all play a part in the insanity of having a simple dinner.

The chemistry between Robert Downey Jr and Geraldine Chaplin is my favorite pairing in the film. She plays his Aunt Glady, who has an interesting lamp-gifting addiction. This is not surprising as it's not the first time they have worked together. He portrayed her father, Charles, in the film Chaplin(1992) where she played her own grandmother, Hannah.

This is the only Holly Hunter film I really love. I can tolerate her in a few others, but not many. This is in no way connected to her talent. My problem is her accent/voice reminds me so much of my creepy middle school gym teacher that I just cringe when I hear her talk. Oddly I didn't like The Piano(1993), even though she doesn't say a word (but that's a different review).

Anne Bancroft and Charles Durning as a crazy married couple are absolutely delightful. Bancroft reminds me of every woman in my family at one point or another in the movie. Durning is one of my favorites. I find him to be as interesting off screen as he is on screen. (Look him up. He is a WWII veteran with a tremendous life story.) As the patriarch of the film, he makes "the point" that sums up the film.

Every family has "stuff" that they deal with upon gathering. Every family has one person who has an overdeveloped OCD personality. Every family has a couple of Type A personalities that clash. And every family has a guilt-giver.

This film makes you feel like your family might just be a bit more survivable.


Trivia: RDJ openly admitted to using heroin during the making of this film. Jodie Foster wrote him a letter praising his work but warning him that he could not keep doing this on other films.