Home for the Holidays (1995)

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.

Director:

Jodie Foster

Writers:

Chris Radant (short story), W.D. Richter (screenplay)

Stars:

Holly Hunter, Anne Bancroft, Robert Downey Jr.

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Holly Hunter	...	Claudia Larson
Robert Downey Jr.	...	Tommy Larson
Anne Bancroft	...	Adele Larson
Charles Durning	...	Henry Larson
Dylan McDermott	...	Leo Fish
Geraldine Chaplin	...	Aunt Glady
Steve Guttenberg	...	Walter Wedman
Cynthia Stevenson	...	Joanne Wedman
Claire Danes	...	Kitt
Emily Ann Lloyd	...	Brittany Lace
Zack Duhame	...	Walter Wedman Jr.
Austin Pendleton	...	Peter Arnold
David Strathairn	...	Russell Terziak
Amy Yasbeck	...	Ginny Johnson Drewer
James Lecesne	...	Ron Drewer

Storyline

After losing her job, making out with her soon to be ex-boss, and finding out that her daughter plans to spend Thanksgiving with her boyfriend, Claudia Larson has to face spending the holiday with her family. She wonders if she can survive their crazy antics.

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Plot Keywords:

title directed by woman | thanksgiving | gay sibling | female protagonist | dysfunctional family | 

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Taglines:

We'll do it every year..until we get it right

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for thematic material, language and brief drug use

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 November 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

Feriados en familia

Filming Locations:

Maryland, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$17,518,220

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures,Polygram Filmed Entertainment,Egg Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Robert Downey Jr., who played Charles Chaplin, plays along side the daughter of Chaplin, Geraldine Chaplin (as Aunt Glady), just as he did in Chaplin (1992).

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Goofs

When Claudia is in the basement in her sister's house, the Step (piece of exercise equipment next to the Stair Climber) has carpet taped to the top. Later, as she leaves, the carpet has vanished.

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Quotes

Tommy: She'll bounce back. Trust me on this. No, she feels her feelings. But she'll bounce back. Feelings come up and she actually feels them, which is great.

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Connections

Features Wheel of Fortune (1983)

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Soundtracks

Piece of My Heart
Written by Bert Berns and Jerry Ragovoy
Performed by Janis Joplin

User Reviews

Should've been great...

Jodie Foster's second film as director shows her faltering a bit from her debut with the moving, funny "Little Man Tate". Working with an uneven script that is better in its straight dramatic moments than as a comedy, Foster can't get a realistic rhythm going between the disgruntled family members at this Thanksgiving reunion. Every scene involving Geraldine Chaplin as a neurotic aunt is a loss, and Robert Downey, Jr. is awful as the obnoxious gay brother of Holly Hunter. Hunter usually gives flaccid scripts like this a little boost, but even her timing is off (especially in the early introductory scenes, which don't work at all). Finally, as if the clouds parted and clarity shined through, the movie picks up in its final twenty minutes. There's a scathing scene between the sisters ("If I met you on the street--if you gave me your number--I'd throw it away") and Charles Durning's remembrance of his family at the airport is wonderfully wistful. I also admired the final arty shots showing the past and the present (with the camera circling madly, joyfully), and then a crystal clear shot of a plane descending into the velvet sky. Are these moving moments enough to justify the glut of an otherwise overwrought picture? Almost. ** from ****