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Home for the Holidays (PG-13, 1995)

common sense media says

Funny, adult look at a dysfunctional holiday.

parents & educators say
See all 3 reviews | Review it

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that kids will probably be bored by this movie when they aren't scandalized by its adult themes: It shows families as many of them really are -- filled with people who are struggling to understand their connection to and love for people they don't understand or really like. There's plenty of swearing, and at one point Joanne launches into a tirade about how disgusting and perverted it is that her brother is in love with another man. Claudia kisses her boss after being fired. Claudia's teenage daughter announces that she's going to have sex with her boyfriend while her mother's away for the holiday.

Positive messages: The movie is a sensitive portrayal of a family full of individuals who don't really know one another and wouldn't be friends if they weren't related.
Positive role models: Every member of this family has issues, but that is their appeal. Since they aren't your family, it's okay to laugh. Just don't attempt to look to them for moral guidance.
Violence: Claudia's dad threatens to hit a child, half-jokingly. Tommy, Walter, and Leo get into a fight, and Leo's nose gets broken.
Sex: Claudia makes out with her boss and, later, with a man she just met. Aunt Gladys admits a crush on her brother-in-law and kisses him during a crazy Thanksgiving dinner. Lots of sexual innuendo.
Language: Language includes "dammit," "son of a bitch," "holy s--t," "asshole," etc. Joanne lights into Tommy with an anti-gay tirade.
Consumerism: Jack in the Box gets a shout-out.
Drinking, drugs, & smoking: Claudia's mom chain-smokes, and Claudia smokes pot. There's considerable fighting fueled by holiday drinking.
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More on Home for the Holidays

What to talk about

Talk to your kids
  • Families can talk about any similarities they have to the Larson family. How does this movie compare to traditional "holiday classics"? Which do you prefer?
  • Do you feel disconnected from your family members? What do you do to create closeness and understanding between family members who are very different?
  • Does being different have to mean hating one another?
  • How would you resolve a similar situation?
  • How does Tommy's family in Boston differ from his birth family?

What's the story?

What's the story?
HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS centers on Claudia Larson (Holly Hunter), who is returning home for a big family Thanksgiving. But things aren't going well in her life. As she says in a mid-flight message to her brother, "I'm sick as a dog, and I made out with my boss, and my kid is going to have sex with a teenager. And then I got fired. Or whatever -- the other way around." Claudia's family includes her chain-smoking, chatterbox mom (Anne Bancroft); her oblivious, bitter dad (Charles Durning); her gay brother, Tommy (Robert Downey Jr.); her dotty Aunt Gladys (Geraldine Chaplin); her martyr sister, Joanne (Cynthia Stevenson); and Tommy's hot friend Leo (Dylan McDermott). Put them all together with a giant turkey, yammering children, and years of unspoken resentments and longing; mix with alcohol; and you have the ultimate family breakdown.

Is it any good?

Is it any good?
 
All hail Claudia for attending her mad, dysfunctional Thanksgiving dinner so we don't have to! This is no A Christmas Story, and it's not Normal Rockwell, but that's its appeal. Home for the Holidays is an uproarious but also humane look at a family full of strangers. And we're all privileged to watch it.

What director Jodie Foster does brilliantly here is start the story out off-kilter and expertly time it so that the plot lines get more absurd and the dialogue more out of control until you feel like you're on a carnival ride, along for the ups and downs. And of course, since it's not your family, it's funny.

Movie themes & details

Movie Details
Studio: MGM/UA
Director: Jodie Foster
Cast: Anne Bancroft, Holly Hunter, Robert Downey Jr.
Genre: Comedy
Run time: 103 minutes
Theatrical release: November 13, 1995
DVD release: September 4, 2001
MPAA Rating: PG-13
MPAA explanation: thematic material, language and brief drug use.
This review was written by Heather Boerner
 
 

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Most useful reviews by all members

MissParkerP
teen, 17 years old
13
 
Age 13 and up can and should see this
This is probably the best family holiday movie around. Hunter and Downey's screen presence are amazing. The acting is well executed and every joke happens at just the right moment. It is the perfect example of the trivia we go through with our own families, so while it is a comedy, it also really hits home.
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imm30
teen, 13 years old
12
 
soooooo boring i hate it seriously dont waste any of your precious life on this crappy movie
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evawas6
kid, 13 years old
12
 
iffy, but not 16+.
It's a little iffy but come on, 14-16?
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helped me decide (5) | had useful details (8) | read my mind (8)

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