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Home for the Holidays

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Home for the Holidays (1995)

November. 02,1995
|
6.6
|
PG-13
| Drama Comedy Romance
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After losing her job, making out with her soon-to-be former boss, and finding out that her daughter plans to spend Thanksgiving with her boyfriend, Claudia Larson faces spending the holiday with her unhinged family.

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Alicia
1995/11/02

I love this movie so much

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Cubussoli
1995/11/03

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

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Actuakers
1995/11/04

One of my all time favorites.

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Mjeteconer
1995/11/05

Just perfect...

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pkollmeier
1995/11/06

As a child, I grew up watching this movie with my mom every holiday season. Last night, I decided to watch this movie alone and really analyze it a bit more as an adult. Whoa. This is one of the saddest movies I've ever seen in my life.I've read a lot of reviews ripping the dialogue and the strangeness of the film, but I really think a lot of it is done for pure effect here. Jodie Foster wants the viewer to think back on all of the crazy things that they've seen in their families throughout the holidays and beyond. In this film, we start to see how hard life really is. Growing old, losing your mind, worrying about small things, washing cars to keep busy, smoking cigarettes, talking bad about other family members, dreading time spent together, mustering up the strength to travel and be on your A game for your family and so on. What we also see is that although our parents create us, help guide us and (if we're lucky) help us in times of need, it is ultimately our lives and fears we must get through to live the lives that we want to live. It is not on our parents to do this for us and in Claudia's family, we start to see just how people define themselves in a group/family setting, compared to their own self-identities. Who are we without our siblings? Our parents? Old memories? Fears? Stereotypes? Alcohol? Family gatherings and embarrassments? Defined family roles? Great times? Bad times?I think Jodie Foster does a fantastic job of showing us that we aren't who we think we are without these things. We aren't even close. But, it doesn't always mean it is a good thing, and it doesn't always mean it is a bad thing. It just is.Now, like I said, this is one of the saddest movies I've ever seen. First, I don't think I ever watched the last 30 minutes with my mom because I didn't remember a specific gut-wrenching scene after the holiday meal. It broke my heart. I also didn't remember the ending to this film. It's cinema magic. Life is a journey and we often don't recognize those people (us) from the past. When I look at photos and videos from old home movies, I am overcome with a sense of sadness. It is hard to explain but I can barely get through them. It is almost like the person I see in those videos and pictures is not me. It is someone entirely different and Home for the Holidays hits on this theme throughout the film. We often forget the obstacles, and hard times and good times, our broken down cars, ex-girlfriends, boyfriends, money troubles, family roles, high school friends, pets, memories and more. Yet, we often remember them too. This always confuses things. Especially the scene with Claudia and her ex-boyfriend in their house. It's sad, really. But we've all had that someone we tried to avoid from back home but had to face. As sad as her ex-boyfriend was to watch and listen to, Claudia hasn't exactly been living the most glamorous life either. She just handles it differently and Jodie Foster does an amazing job of showing the viewer this, without specifically telling us.Tommy handles his insecurities by lashing out against others and causing them pain. It may seem like innocence and jokes, but deep down, I don't think Tommy ever feels at home when he's home. He loves his parents in a strange way that we all do, but he's started another journey with his lover Jack, and that's just the way life goes. When Claudia's journey ends this particular Thanksgiving, we see that her new journey is actually just beginning. Give this one a watch if you're on the fence. It has a lot more layers to it than first meets the eye.

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ramsri007
1995/11/07

Home For Holidays is probably one of those movies that could be easily overlooked as just another holiday movie. This one is a gem. You can easily relate to it at various levels. be it the brother sister bond, be it a mom's anxiousness about the welfare of her children, the sibling rivalry, feeling left out, secrets, to feel lost even among family, to fail to read your kin although you've spent a lifetime with them. I personally do not quiet enjoy the family gatherings however as shown in the movie, once they are over there is a sense of warmth that sneaks in when you keep aside the negatives & realize, why we love the people that are present, what makes them the people that they are, and what is truly important in this life.We all grow older in life, so does your family. With time, people change, people in families change, what once bonded you may not now. The world sees you as an adult with children of your own, problems that are real, concerns that completely outside and removed from this group you have known since infancy. However, curiously, your family sees you as the kid who fought with your sister, and dated the class loser. And when you get together, you are faced with a 'not fitting anymore' crisis. My favorites are Robert Downey jr & Holly Hunter who play brother (Tommy) & sister (Claudia). Downey sizzles, entices and completely captures your attention.The movie opens with Claudia at the Museum, where she is informed that she is fired, after which, in a moment of spontaneity, she tries to make out with her boss. As she prepares to leave for a family get together at her parent's place, her teen daughter announces that she is going to make out with her boy friend. Claudia who is in a fragile mental state leaves a message at her brother Tommy's answering machine asking for emotional help. Tommy comes home for the holidays unexpectedly because he finds out his sister has just had a really bad day and dealing alone with the family would be unthinkable. He arrives in style with a male friend, Leo Fish, and proves to be excellent moral support for Hunter. Tommy ends up taking the inevitable flack for his being gay but lets things be and chooses to enjoy Claudia's company. He is also a catalyst, & helps ignite something between Leo & Claudia. There are many scenes where Hunter & Downey just speak with their eyes to each other. These are class & depict the deep bond they share as siblings. The movie has an open ending. This was the movie where Downey acknowledged the use of heroine while filming. What with the impeccable acting of his, you would not get a hint of this fact.

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leplatypus
1995/11/08

The two movies share the same theme: spending a holiday with relatives that turns into a nightmare. Here, it's even better as it's the child (Holly) who returns to her family. It happens to me also and it's true that we travel by grinding our teethes: it warms the heart to see again the family, our familiar places but now, we are adult and it also feels like a cage! Unfortunately, this good plot is totally destroyed by an unintelligible script: the characters speak English, but can someone understand the lines? It's porridge, it means nothing, it's surrealist just to be surrealist and worst, it's not even funny or moving! The aunt is stupid like the sister and brother in law, the mother talks too much for nothing, the father is a video addict! Holly seemed cute, fragile at first but at the end, she didn't do much! In addition, the soundtrack with a lot of bad songs is just irritating and Jodie is there a poor director: all the opening credit is about a painting that we don't see! She zooms in Holly (1,57m) and McDermott (1,83m) so we have only the head of the first and the second has his forehead cut! The only interesting thing is the unrecognizable Robert Downey Jr, so puffy that he looked like a Javier Bardem. Finally, i thought after watching "Always", that Holly was a fine actress but after having watched this crap, stupid "Crash" and her horrible TV show, i really wonder....

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moviedude1
1995/11/09

Holly Hunter stars as a woman who finds out she's not quite making it just before she heads home to Baltimore for Thanksgiving, where an overbearing mother, slightly whacked-out father are waiting for their children to return home to the nest, including her homosexual brother who's very well known for his antics and escapades.I'm not sure where to begin, except that the genres for this film are seriously backwards. Don't get me wrong...I like the movie, but I found more drama than comedy in it. And there's that old saying about, "Look in the dictionary under (insert word here) and you'll find my family picture as the illustration," and dysfunctional is DEFINITELY Hunter's family in this case.It's not stupid comedy, and it's not a stupid movie, but it's not really that funny, either.3 out of 10 stars.

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