KnotMissPriceless
Why so much hype?
Numerootno
A story that's too fascinating to pass by...
Juana
what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.
csimpkins53
I can't stand the character of Tommy in this movie. He is just a total a*****e. This dislike of him has nothing to do with the fact that Tommy is gay (I am male but I am not gay by the way). He treats everyone like s**t! The mean spirited things he says about the down-on-his-luck character portrayed by David Strathairn is just so extremely cruel and heartless! Tommy is just a very selfish, cruel, immature bastard! All he cares about is himself and as far as he is concerned everyone else can go to hell. Claudia tries to be kind to him but he is even cruel to her. He tells her to get in his car and then repeatedly screeches away from her leaving her on the sidewalk. Also, he intrudes on her in a very disrespectful, infantile way when she is showering, what a piece of s**t he is! To paraphrase Joanne: "Even if I just met him on the street and he gave me his phone number...I'd throw it away"! I wouldn't want to have anything to do with this reject! All the way through the movie I just want to punch his lights out! What an ass!! I believe that the proper term for a person who behaves in this manner is that he is a narcissist, and in the worst possible way!
ramsri007
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.
SnoopyStyle
Claudia Larson (Holly Hunter) loses her art restorer job due to budget cuts. Her 16 year old daughter Kitt (Claire Danes) shocks her with her intention to lose her virginity. Then she has to go back home to her parents (Anne Bancroft, Charles Durning) for Thanksgiving. Her sister Joanne (Cynthia Stevenson) and brother-in-law Walter Wedman (Steve Guttenberg) are uptight conservatives. Her irreverent gay brother Tommy (Robert Downey Jr.) shows up with Leo Fish (Dylan McDermott). Aunt Glady (Geraldine Chaplin) is an eccentric plant lady. Sad sack Russell Terziak (David Strathairn) is infatuated with Claudia.It's Holly Hunter suffering under various family members. I wish Claire Danes could stay in the heart of the movie. Downey tries to steal the movie with his antics. Claudia embodies how I feel about this movie. I love the people here but some of them annoy me. I watch this with detached bemusement. The wacky energy from Downey energizes a rather simple family dysfunction chaos. Director Jodie Foster maintains control of the manic wackiness but she isn't able to maximize the comedy.
mrsTrellis-2
Woman goes home for holiday, meets irritating relatives and finds a bloke. It's two hours of your life that you will wish you had spent being tasered. So, the set-up, woman (Hunter) is fired, her daughter is about to have sex with her boyfriend but going home for a holiday dinner still beckons. Gathering is a variety of characters all of which have something annoying to say from the obsessively wacky brother (Downey Junior ..why he isn't covered in bruises from casual passers-by hitting him seems to be a hole in the plot) to the obsessively dull brother (Guttenberg). The mother (Bancroft) seems to be the source of the wackiness and the father (Durning) the source of obsession. A thanksgiving dinner ensues with nobody seeming to pay attention to anyone else so self-obsessed are they all and an 'absolutely hilarious' scene with the turkey. Oh yes, enter handsome stranger. Other things happen but frankly I won't bore you with them. The film is peppered with good actors all of whom seem to fail so I would guess that the main fault is in the story and direction of it. Hollie Hunter is someone who I have liked as an actress for many years but am beginning to revise my opinion. There is not much good to say about this film except the fact that the characters were realistic ... so much so that you wanted to stick then with a fork instead of the Turkey. It is based on a short story and the only positive thing I have to say is to thank the lord the author didn't write the full version.
