In Praise of an Unjustly Ignored Thanksgiving Movie...
With both the annual day of feasting AND the annual day of consumer insanity behind us, I want to address what I believe to be an egregious example of cable television's dropping the holiday ball: Why was Home for the Holidays not in heavy rotation throughout the last week or so?
This film was released fourteen years ago (say... the very year Jeff and I tied the knot!), and it captures in a mere hour and forty or so the essence of all we love and hate about Thanksgiving spent with the family. The aging parents who are loathe to accept that their children are adults. The tension between siblings who have moved far away and those who have stayed in the old hometown. The dotty relative who can be counted on to reveal family skeletons in full view of the poor outsider who has been dragged in as a guest. The painful realization that you can't really ever go home again, and the warmth you'll find there nevertheless. And of course, it is all wrapped very loosely around what might turn out to be a love story.
I was looking for this movie on cable all week before the big day, but when it did not materialize I dug out our relatively ancient VHS copy so I could get my yearly fix (yes--our DVD player plays videos as well... we are SO out of media step).
I guess it's a mixed blessing, this failure by the powers that be to recognize a potential holiday classic. At least it won't be played to death like It's a Wonderful Life or A Christmas Story. But if you are seeking a film to put you in the proper frame of mind for a fraught family gathering, this is your film.
This film was released fourteen years ago (say... the very year Jeff and I tied the knot!), and it captures in a mere hour and forty or so the essence of all we love and hate about Thanksgiving spent with the family. The aging parents who are loathe to accept that their children are adults. The tension between siblings who have moved far away and those who have stayed in the old hometown. The dotty relative who can be counted on to reveal family skeletons in full view of the poor outsider who has been dragged in as a guest. The painful realization that you can't really ever go home again, and the warmth you'll find there nevertheless. And of course, it is all wrapped very loosely around what might turn out to be a love story.
I was looking for this movie on cable all week before the big day, but when it did not materialize I dug out our relatively ancient VHS copy so I could get my yearly fix (yes--our DVD player plays videos as well... we are SO out of media step).
I guess it's a mixed blessing, this failure by the powers that be to recognize a potential holiday classic. At least it won't be played to death like It's a Wonderful Life or A Christmas Story. But if you are seeking a film to put you in the proper frame of mind for a fraught family gathering, this is your film.
Labels: ignored films, Thanksgiving
posted by Cathy VanPatten at 5:53 PM
3 Comments:
You know, I saw this movie for the FIRST TIME this Thanksgiving Day on... some cable channel, I forget which. No fanfare, no hoopla, I merely happened upon it by accident, but 'tis a MASTERPIECE of a cautionary tale! It needs to become a highly-touted annual event!
I went to IMDB the other day to see comments on the movie, and it's quite interesting. The early comments and viewer reviews are fairly negative. The reviewers thought the movie was depressing, a consistent downer, no redeeming qualities. Now, years later, people are still discovering the film, and the more recent comments are overwhelmingly positive.
From the first time I saw it (on cable, many years ago) I loved it. Robert Downey Jr.'s portrayal of Tommy is amazing--the film would be worth seeing if only for THAT. But there's so much more to it.
I remember watching it the Christmas after my dad died, and just bawling my way through the ending, when Claudia's parents drive her back to the airport...
Great film!
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