Thanksgiving Family Reunion (2003) (TV)

Director:

Neal Israel

Writers (WGA):

Marc Warren (written by) &
Dennis Rinsler (written by)

Release Date:

23 November 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

This Family Trip Is NO Vacation.

Plot:

All Mitch Snider wants for his family is a traditional holiday feast with the relatives. The problem is that he doesn't have any...

Plot Keywords:

Free Spirit | Free Thinker | Football | Male Nudity | Thanksgiving

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Bryan Cranston	...	Woodrow Snider
Judge Reinhold	...	Dr. Mitch Snider
Penelope Ann Miller	...	Pauline Snider
Hallie Todd	...	Jill Snider
Meghan Ory	...	Allison Snider
Calum Worthy	...	Danny Snider
Brittney Irvin	...	Twig Snider (as Britt Irvin)
Reece Thompson	...	Harley Snider
Antony Holland	...	Uncle Phil
Rheta Hutton	...	Janis (as Rheta With An 'H')
David Paetkau	...	Jimmy Hodges
Gary Chalk	...	Fred Hodges (as Garry Chalk)
Noel Fisher	...	Buzz Hodges
Paul McGillion	...	Sheriff Kirkland
David King	...	Head Surgeon

Also Known As:

National Lampoon's Holiday Reunion (Canada: English title) (USA) (DVD box title)
Holiday Reunion (Canada: English title) (DVD box title)
National Lampoon's Thanksgiving Family Reunion (USA) (complete title)
National Lampoon's Thanksgiving Reunion (USA) (complete title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sexual content, nudity and crude humor.

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Australia:M | Netherlands:AL | UK:12 | USA:PG-13

Company:

National Lampoon Productions

Quotes:

Pauline Snider: Not to worry, all our animals have died of natural causes. In fact Chester
[the turkey]
Pauline Snider: is on his last leg, if he doesn't give in soon, we'll only be having stuffing for dinner tomorrow, but there is hope, he has TB.

Movie Connections:

References "Charlie's Angels" (1976)

"Nothing here makes any sense"

Tasteless and embarrassing.

Tasteless exposure of nearly every embarrassing thing you never want the world to know about your family - plus a few more things that make watching this movie quite uncomfortable.

Judge Reinhold's characteristic awkward, uncomfortable performance could have been used to gain the sympathy of the viewer. Instead it became simply boring. But I don't blame him. The overall lack of comedic timing in this movie indicates serious problems throughout production. The movie had plenty of clever gag ideas as well as some bad ones. Many of the situations touched on were ones that the average person could relate to. The problem was in the amateurish implementation, nearly every - step - of - the - way. Each of the actors and actresses had good moments: good facial expressions and reactions. But, at the end of each scene, one shouldn't be left wondering "what was that all about?". The gags were thrown out there, but the scenes weren't polished: the bedroom-sharing scene ended on a very lame note. The nude shower scene was obviously intended as a gross-out piece, but that's all it was - disgusting, not funny. Even a mud-wrestling scene provides no satisfaction for the male audience. What was the point of including it, then?

"Since this project is categorized as being in production", I hope that the producers will take the time to reconnect the dots and polish up the scenes. There is potential, here, for a good movie.

Apart from that, one thing the movie managed to do quite well was to totally denigrate the profession of anesthesiology. Now, I'm not a big fan of doctors, but the absolute insult to this medical specialty was sad and unnecessary. I feel truly sorry for them, now.

The best line in the movie is one that sums up the entirety of the experience: "Nothing here makes any sense"