We could all name a ton of movies set on most holidays. Christmas movies are probably the easiest with Halloween a close second. But what about Thanksgiving? How many come to mind? You probably thought of Planes, Trains and Automobiles. So did I? I thought of a few slightly more obscure ones, too. Check ’em out.
What’s Cooking?
What happens when families come together for Thanksgiving? In LA’s Fairfax district, where ethnic groups abound, four diverse households celebrate Thanksgiving by cooking up some tasty holiday surprises: love betrayal and even a few outrageous secrets!
Scent of a Woman
Hoping to earn extra money during Thanksgiving break, an innocent and reserved scholarship student at an exclusive prep school agrees to look after a blind, retired Lieutenant Colonel, who takes him off for a wild weekend in New York City.
Dutch
When working-class Dutch Dooley volunteers to fetch his new girlfriend’s son from his Southern prep school, where he’s refusing to come home for Thanksgiving, their road trip back to Chicago quickly goes wrong.
The Ice Storm
Suburban Connecticut, 1973. While Richard Nixon’s ‘I am not a crook’ speech drones from the TV, the Hood and Carver families try to navigate a Thanksgiving break simmering with unspoken resentment, sexual tension, and cultural confusion. With clarity, subtlety, and a dose of wicked humor, Academy Award winning director Ang Lee renders Rick Moody’s acclaimed novel of upper-middle-class American malaise as a trenchant, tragic cinematic portrait of lost souls.
The House of Yes
“Jackie-O” is anxiously awaiting the visit of her brother home for Thanksgiving, but isn’t expecting him to bring a friend. She’s even more shocked to learn that this friend is his fiancé. It soon becomes clear that Jackie-O’s shock is nothing compared to her creepy obsession with her brother. And she isn’t the only member of the family with problems.
Home for the Holidays
Claudia Larson is a divorced single mom who just lost her job and now has to fly home for the traditional family Thanksgiving in Baltimore. From the plane, she calls for reinforcements–and her brother Tommy makes it down from Boston with a little surprise: a handsome friend named Leo. Between dropping the turkey in their sister’s lap and a few fist fights on the front lawn, Claudia and Tommy recapture their childhood and Claudia and Leo explore the sweet possibility of romance.
Planes, Trains and Automobiles
An uptight businessman faces disaster after disaster as he tries to get back home in time for his family’s Thanksgiving dinner. Along the way he is joined by an obnoxious yet lovable salesman that will not leave him alone.