Themes: Family Gatherings, Eccentric Families, Sibling Relationships
Main Cast: Holly Hunter, Robert Downey, Jr., Anne Bancroft, Charles Durning, Geraldine Chaplin
Release Year: 1995
Country: US
Run Time: 103 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
It's been said that while most people love their families, they don't always like them very much, and that emotional dividing line is the heart of this comedy directed by Jodie Foster. Claudia Larson (Holly Hunter) usually approaches family reunions with a certain trepidation, but as she prepares to fly from her home in Chicago to her parent's place in Baltimore for Thanksgiving, she is more apprehensive than usual. Claudia has just lost her job, she's not feeling at all well, and her teenage daughter, Kitt (Claire Danes), who is staying behind, informs Claudia on the way to the airport that she plans to use the weekend to lose her virginity with her boyfriend. The family festivities are already under way when Claudia arrives at the home of her mother, Adele (Anne Bancroft), and father, Henry (Charles Durning). Claudia's brother, Tommy (Robert Downey Jr.), whose homosexuality is tolerated without being discussed on a practical basis, has brought along his new friend Leo Fish (Dylan McDermott). Tommy doesn't get along well with his fussbudget sister, Joanne (Cynthia Stevenson), who wears her self-sacrifice like a badge of honor, and he simply hates her husband, Walter (Steve Guttenberg), who has often been the target of Tommy's barbed sense of humor. While the siblings and in-laws struggle to remain civil, their quite eccentric aunt Gladys (Geraldine Chaplin) arrives; she insists on discussing her digestive problems, and after a few drinks, she confesses her long-ago lust for Henry. Home for the Holidays was Jodie Foster's second film as a director, and the first in which she didn't also star. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
While not quite as entertaining as her deft behind-the-lens debut, Little Man Tate (1991), this comedy drama from actress-turned-director Jodie Foster is an emotionally satisfying and observant rumination on how family ties often tighten into a noose during the holidays. Cast standouts are lead Holly Hunter as the single mother of a distant teenager who's not quite sure she isn't still a teen herself, and Robert Downey Jr. as her gay brother, the closeted family black sheep. While some of the plot developments are too stridently over the top and sacrifice character development at the altar of wacky "business," the film is a very real portrait of the dread and disappointment that is the flip side of the delight and affection inherent in any obligatory family reunion. While most critics and audiences found that this painfully funny comedy emphasized the pain over the comedy, Home for the Holidays debunks the artificial cheer served up by most motion pictures and deserves to become a perennial holiday favorite for the emotionally and intellectually evolved. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
Jim Tocci - Art Director, Avy Kaufman - Casting, Susan Lyall - Costume Designer, Mike Topoozian - First Assistant Director, Jodie Foster - Director, Lynzee Klingman - Editor, Stuart Kleinman - Executive Producer, Mark Isham - Composer (Music Score), Chris Newman - Composer (Music Score), Dawn Solér - Musical Direction/Supervision, Michael St. Hilaire - Camera Operator, Andrew McAlpine - Production Designer, Lajos Koltai - Cinematographer, Jodie Foster - Producer, Peggy Rajski - Producer, Barbara Drake - Set Designer, Gary Pilkinton - Special Effects, Chris Newman - Sound/Sound Designer, W.D. Richter - Screenwriter, Chris Radant - Short Story Author
Claudia Larson is a single mom who has just been fired from her job as an art restorer after an affair with her boss. She flies to spend Thanksgiving at the home of her parents, Adele and Henry Larson, while her only child Kitt decides to stay home and spend the holiday with her boyfriend.
The family gathering also includes Claudia's conservative sister, Joanne Larson Wedman, her stuffy banker husband Walter and their spoiled daughter. Also there is Claudia's gay brother Tommy and his new friend Leo Fish, along with their eccentric aunt Glady.
Tommy has recently married another man, so Claudia can't understand what he is doing here with a new guy by his side. But it turns out Leo has come along for the holidays to be introduced to Claudia. After a hectic, argument-filled Thanksgiving, when Claudia boards a plane home, Leo goes with her.
Screenwriter W. D. Richter adapted a short story by Chris Radant that appeared in a Boston newspaper.[1] Executive producer Stuart Kleinman sent Jodie Foster the screenplay with a note that said, "It's a complete mess and I love it".[1] Foster agreed and decided that it would be her second directorial effort (the first was Little Man Tate). Castle Rock Films was originally going to finance the film but canceled. Foster's own production company, Egg Productions acquired Richter's screenplay.[2] She struck a deal with Paramount Pictures to distribute the film theatrically and PolyGram Filmed Entertainment to handle the international rights and domestic video and pay TV.[3]
Foster said, "the great challenge was to find a beautiful idea to pull through it, a narrative line that would make the story work".[1] Foster met with Richter and together they brainstormed and "had great fun thinking up new details and lives and clearing up the relationships," Foster remembers.[1] They worked on the script so that the film reflected Foster's point-of-view and her own life experiences.[2] She showed the first draft to Holly Hunter who agreed to star after reading it.[4] Working with a $20 million budget,[5] Foster spent ten weeks filming in Baltimore with a two-week rehearsal period. She used this time to get input from the actors about dialogue. If a scene of speech did not ring true, she wanted to know.[2] She picked the city because it was the "prototype of the American city. It's dangerous, east coasty, urban. Yet it still has a hopeful quality to it".[1] Principal photography began February 1995.[3] Filming of the Thanksgiving dinner took more than ten days, using 64 turkeys, 20 pounds of mashed potatoes, 35 pounds of stuffing, 44 pies, 30 pounds of sweet potatoes, 18 bags of mini-marshmellows and 50 gallons of juice that stood in for wine.[1] Foster allowed Robert Downey Jr. to improvise which got him excited about making films again after a period of time where he became disillusioned with acting.[6]
Soundtrack
Home for the Holidays (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Home for the Holidays was released on November 3, 1995 in 1,000 theaters and grossed USD $4 million in its opening weekend. It went on to make $17.5 million in North America.[7]
Reviews
The film received mixed to positive reviews from critics with a 62% rating at Rotten Tomatoes and a 56 metascore at Metacritic. In his three and half star review, Roger Ebert praised Foster's ability to direct "the film with a sure eye for the revealing little natural moment," and Downey's performance that "brings out all the complexities of a character who has used a quick wit to keep the world's hurts at arm's length".[8]Janet Maslin, in her review for the New York Times, praised Holly Hunter's performance: "Displaying a dizziness more mannered than the cool, crisp intelligence she shows in Copycat, Ms. Hunter still holds together Home for the Holidays with a sympathetic performance".[9] In his review for the Boston Globe, Jay Carr praised the film for being "filled with juicy performances that expand resourcefully beyond what we think are going to be their boundaries, the film carries us beyond our expectations. That's what makes it so pleasurable".[10]
USA Today gave the film three out of four stars and wrote, "Home has the usual hellish ritual. They come, they eat, they argue, they leave. It's the stuffing in-between that makes it special".[11] However, in her review for the Washington Post, Rita Kempley criticized some of the performances: "Downey brings a lot of energy to the role, but his antics can be both tedious and distracting. Hunter has a lovely scene with her disgruntled sister, but there's no time for that relationship to develop, what with a romantic interest yet to explore".[12] In his review for Rolling Stone magazine, Peter Travers had problems with the screenplay: "It's a shame that W.D. Richter's un-Disney-ish script often slides into shrill stereotypes and sitcom silliness".[13]
References
^ abcdefHunter, Stephen (November 19, 1995). "Foster Feels at Home Adding Fun, Meaning to Holidays Clan". Baltimore Sun.
^ abcPortman, Jamie (October 31, 1995). "Home for the Holidays No Ordinary Family Film". Montreal Gazette.
^ abYoung, Paul F (November 19, 1995). "Foster Moves Home to Par". Variety.
