Home for the Holidays

I love this movie!! I watch it again and again it is so very funny. Holly Hunter is hysterical and so is her nutty family!!! I have to watch it every thanksgiving! I just love it!! My favorite part of the movie is when Tommy Larson played by Robert Downey Jr. comes home and wakes his family. we laugh until we cry. I think it is a really funny movie . I think every one can relate to having an off the wall relative like Aunt Gladys. If you are looking for a movie that is funny and all about family this is good for a laugh. The family is funny and real I have a sister just like Joanne. The overall movie is just simply funny and to laugh at them as a family is to laugh at your self.

I have never written a review before, though I am frequently on IMDB, but now I think it is my duty to let prospective watchers of this movie know that it is really very good. Holly Hunter, Robert Downey Jr, and Anne Bancroft are all highlights. Cynthia Stevenson and Geraldine Chaplin are great too. The story is funny and smart, and Jodie Foster got most of the details right on. Rent this movie on Thanksgiving for the full effect; I do every year.

This is a great little gem of a film. The whole time i was watching this film i couldn't help but notice the similarities to my family. The craziness, the fights i mean everything. I laughed so hard during this film but mostly when Robert Downey Jr. was on screen. It is not to say that Holly Hunter was bad, she was quite good as was everyone else but Downey had this presense on the screen and he just stole the movie. while it was apparent he was using heavily he was still at his best on screen. The DVD commentary by Jodie Foster really gives insight to the film and it really sounds like Downey was a pain to work with because of his improvising everything but you feel she has a genuine sisterly love for him. Bottom line is that it was a funny, insightful, and realistic film.

People either love or hate this film. It seems to me that, for those who hate it, there is too much going on in the scenes. The dialogue is often open ended, and the action is at times frenetic so that the viewer isn't sure where he/she should be focusing attention. That, I submit, is the true beauty of this unusual movie. It has an over the top realism that makes it a rewarding film to watch multiple times. There are so many layers in the dialogue and the acting, so many subtleties between characters, that you can watch it many times and still be noticing something new. This may be billed a comedy, but it is filled with heartbreak and tragedy, betrayal and disappointments. This is not a run of the mill feel good holiday movie. I think those who rate this movie poorly, in some way, miss that. I hope Jodie Foster directs again. She's immensely gifted.

This film, when stripped of all its humour, cover-ups and bravado, is one of the saddest stories put to film in recent years. The line that strikes me the most is nearing the end, when Claudia and Leo go to Joanne's to return her Tupperware. The dialogue goes as such:

Claudia: You don't know the first thing about me, Joanne. Nothing.

Joanne: Likewise, I'm sure. [pause] If I just met you on the street, if you gave me your phone number, I'd throw it away.

Ouch. If either of my sisters said that to me I'd have to hurt them. This is a touching, heartfelt film, and I adore it.