Essential Thanksgiving Movies
These are my all-time favorite Thanksgiving movies that usually focus on the craziness of this holiday and how everyone deals with dysfunctional families.
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- DirectorJodie FosterStarsHolly HunterAnne BancroftRobert Downey Jr.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 family.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 family.
- DirectorJohn HughesStarsSteve MartinJohn CandyLaila RobinsA Chicago advertising man must struggle to travel home from New York for Thanksgiving, with a lovable oaf of a shower-curtain-ring salesman as his only companion.We watch this movie on Thanksgiving Eve every year. It's one of my favorite and underrated John Hughes scripts. John Candy and Steve Martin play off each other in so many ways. I can't resist road trip/journey movies on the busiest travel day of the year.
- DirectorPeter HedgesStarsKatie HolmesOliver PlattPatricia ClarksonA wayward daughter invites her dying mother and the rest of her estranged family to her apartment for Thanksgiving dinner.It's hard not to relate to this movie in some ways if you have ever had parents come over for Thanksgiving. It's fun watching Katie Holmes interact with the other tenants in the building.
- DirectorCarl FranklinStarsMeryl StreepRenée ZellwegerWilliam HurtA career woman reassesses her parents' lives after she is forced to care for her cancer-stricken mother.
- DirectorDonald PetrieStarsJack LemmonWalter MatthauAnn-MargretA lifelong feud between two neighbors since childhood only gets worse when a new female neighbor moves across the street.This movie spans the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas in bitter cold Minnesota. It's hard not to laugh at the feuding chemistry between Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon. Another great buddy movie.
- DirectorPeter FaimanStarsEd O'NeillEthan EmbryJoBeth WilliamsTo get to know his girlfriend's son, a working-class good guy volunteers to pick him up from his prep school, only to learn that he isn't the nicest young man.One of the lesser known John Hughes movies. It's a combination of Uncle Buck and Planes Trains & Automobiles. Ed Harris does a great job trying to deal with a spoiled prep school kid on Thanksgiving eve.
- DirectorSteve CarrStarsKevin JamesKeir O'DonnellJayma MaysWhen a shopping mall is taken over by a gang of organized crooks, it's up to a mild-mannered security guard to save the day.It's hard not to like Kevin James in the role of a lonely mall cop on Black Friday. This movie has good intentions and feels a little like a light-hearted mall Die Hard.
- DirectorNora EphronStarsTom HanksMeg RyanGreg KinnearBook superstore magnate Joe Fox and independent book shop owner Kathleen Kelly fall in love in the anonymity of the Internet, both blissfully unaware that he's trying to put her out of business.This movie makes you want to visit New York in the fall. Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan have great chemistry again in this fun holiday movie.
- DirectorAng LeeStarsKevin KlineJoan AllenSigourney WeaverIn suburban New Canaan, Connecticut, 1973, middle-class families experimenting with casual sex and substance abuse find their lives beyond their control.If you are looking for a dark and cold dysfunctional Thanksgiving movie, I would recommend the Ice Storm. The acting of Tobey Maguire, Elijah Wood and Christa Ricci are top notch. This was the first time I ever heard of a key party.
- DirectorJimmy HaywardStarsWoody HarrelsonOwen WilsonDan FoglerA pair of turkeys discover a time machine and decide to use it to travel to the first Thanksgiving, to take turkeys off the menu forever.
- DirectorGurinder ChadhaStarsJoan ChenJulianna MarguliesMercedes RuehlFour families in LA of different ethnicity (Latino, Asian/Vietnamese, African and Jewish) gather together for Thanksgiving dinner.I just watched What's Cooking for the first time this year. It's a story about four different Thanksgivings celebrations that have many dysfunctional things in common.
- DirectorBill MelendezPhil RomanStarsTodd BarbeeRobin KohnStephen SheaPeppermint Patty invites herself and her friends over to Charlie Brown's for Thanksgiving, and with Linus, Snoopy, and Woodstock, he attempts to throw together a Thanksgiving dinner.I know this isn't a movie but I had to add it to my list. Easily my favorite Thanksgiving special. I love watching Snoopy make popcorn and toast for Thanksgiving dinner.
- DirectorMartin BrestStarsAl PacinoChris O'DonnellJames RebhornA prep school student needing money agrees to "babysit" a blind man, but the job is not at all what he anticipated.