A Family Thanksgiving

Gave this 5 stars simply because 5 is right in the middle...as in no better, no worse than any of the other movies in the "Hallmark Holiday" genre.

If you like the sappy, all wrapped up in a heartwarming, happy ending type movie, you'll probably like this one too. If you're not a big fan of these movies, this probably isn't going to change your view.

It follows the same basic "story" or "message" as so many others. Sure, maybe the details differ, maybe the scenario is reversed (riches to rags vs. rags to riches, a woman vs. a man etc.). But yet.... Just another holiday movie.

So, like I said in the title... If you've seen one, you've seen them all!

I will say though, the acting in this one is better than a lot of others, but again, nothing extraordinary to make you want to run out and see it.

Claudia (Daphne Zuniga), a rising attorney, is very happy to be summoned to the office of her firm's managing lawyers. She believes she will be asked to become a partner, for, after all, she does work many hours and has won important decisions. Yet, as she soon finds out, now is not her time. Not yet. Instead, they plop still another difficult case in her lap, one they are taking from another colleague who is not making progress. So, if Claudia can bring victory to the firm, a partnership is hers. Swallowing her disappointment, she goes back to tell her staff they will be working until three on Thanksgiving Day, plenty of time for them to join their families for dinner. Also, she phones her work-at-home sister to tell her sib that, once again, she can't make it to their family celebration. When asked for good reasons, Claudia's explanation reveals that her own SISTER is getting a neighborhood group together to fight the company Claudia will be defending. Uh oh. Then, too, Claudia who picks up coffee each morning at 6, has always brushed off the smiles of a businessman named Bill (Dan Payne). Someone else has been watching Claudia, too, a mysterious woman (Faye Dunaway), who may just be the "alternate universe" fairy. She knows all and sees all. Therefore, to give Claudia a rude awakening, this woman plants Claudia in a "what if" new life. In this one, Claudia is married to Bill, having given up her career, and is the mother of two adorable children. But, wait, Claudia doesn't even know how to change a diaper or pack a lunch! Also, Bill thinks she is angry about a previous fight, but just how long can she give him the cold shoulder in the bedroom? Most importantly, she gets to know her sister's point of view about the case she could have had, and her sister may be right. Please, can't she just go back to her normal life, Claudia pleads, or does she really want to? This film is in the long tradition of such flicks as Sliding Doors and 17 Again, where one can go back in time and choose a different path to pursue. Happily, its not too much of a good thing, as the film is funny, clever, and sweet. Zuniga is a great and pretty comedian while Payne is a real find, quite handsome and appealing. The rest of the cast, including Dunaway, is nice as well. The look of the film, with its well-picked costumes, sets, and art direction, is winning as is the polished script and energetic direction. Hey, Thanksgiving is coming soon, as of this writing, but even if it weren't, this is a mood-setting movie that would aid in the true meaning of the holiday.

So this is where it gets a little weird for me. Ordinarily I can not stand movies like this. That happy horse dung that they force-feed you from W or hallmark networks.

This came on tv by chance (NOT on one of those networks I might add. I wouldn't be caught dead watching that) I went for a shower and came back and it was on the screen. The film is essentially a remake of "The Family Man" starring Nicholas Cage, and I absolutely love that film.

I'm not a sucker for holiday films like most people, and I especially hate thanksgiving. Absolutely hate the fake holiday that people use an excuse to gorge themselves and give in to disgusting practices. (Because nothing says "thanks" like gluttony)

Despite that, I've enjoyed Daphne Zuniga in things past and made me nostalgic for the good days of television when even the trash was conceptual and entertaining (Melrose Place, anybody?)

So I gave this film a try and it was decent. It has a lot more substance than the other crap that just preys on the weak and soft to make an easy buck.

Nothing will ever replace "The Family Man", its one of very very few "holiday films" that I can or will tolerate. So this film sat well with me, with a very understanding yet heartwarming appeal and didn't try to oversell like the cookie cutter approach to most made-for-tv garbage.

If this can win even a hardened person like me over, it probably deserves a watch.

The acting is quite simplistic but it doesn't feel forced either. I appreciate that we are viewing what seem to be normal people. Not characters filling a void to parlé along a storyline.

The ending is about as typical as you could expect. But how could it be any other way. I laughed, of course. But it wasn't to be cynical, it was more of letting go and embracing the innevitable.

Naturally in life we can't go back and change things. I think this is a testament to people's complacency and uninspired lifestyles. But also shows that there is more to life than only what you deem or make important.

A concept that is utterly lost on society today. Which is why "Thanksgiving" is such a sham of a holiday. Self-gratifying for your own selfish endeavours, while this film depicts the exact opposite.

What could, and what should be. Often times are one in the same, but seldom ever occur. This was a nice breath of fresh air from the phony garbage people deem "important" today. Your agenda isn't important, ethics and morals are.

This film will teach you that.

A nice little film with a much bigger heart.

I give this a 6.5 out 10. Rounded up to a 7, which is the highest rating i can possibly give to this type of film. So for all intents and purposes, its a 10 for tv.

I liked the story. I did find it a little far fetched that a German company would have a factory that does not practice environmental safety. The Germans have been cleaning up rivers and practicing forest management for many years. Your research was not very good.

A hard working attorney is shown how her life would be is she had a husband and kids. Claudia (Daphne Zuniga) is the successful trial attorney who graduated at the top of her class from Harvard Law School. She's working hard to become the first female partner within a high-powered firm. She believes her life is 'perfect'. Her sister asks her the day before to prepare for the family Thanksgiving a homemade apple pie. Claudia, however, is everything but the homemaker her sister is, and is annoyed by the request because she doesn't have 'time' for such things.

Meanwhile, Claudia is directed to assist a corporate client in reversing an injunction so that it can demolish a park to build an enormous development. In order to realize this, she insists her subordinate employees work on Thanksgiving Day, because the court hearing is the day after. During this process, Claudia meets Gina (Faye Dunaway), a mysterious older woman who makes it her goal to teach Claudia some moral lessons. Gina takes Claudia to an alternative world, where Claudia is a lower profile happily married minivan-driving 'soccer mom' with two children.

Claudia is perplexed by the situation she is now in, but while experiencing her new life, the way it could have been, she learns that she is missing out on a lot; despite past prejudice regarding married life, she eventually finds she's falling in love with the man to whom she is married, and she becomes accustomed to the new life she is leading. Furthermore, she grows closer to her sister. Just as she is about to settle with her new life, Gina returns to take her back. Claudia is reluctant to return to her corporate life, and thus must consider what she is most thankful for.

What I hated about this film that is shows that women are not happy until they have a husband and kids. This very stupid. I think a better story line is that she breaks with her husband and would of been shown what life she will miss out on.

The performances in this film are good. I just have a huge problem with the hidden message that "Women are only happy when they are married. That is insulting.