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Home for the Holidays Review

Other Critics provided by Metacritic.com

Critics scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 3.0
    56

    out of 100

    Metascore®
    Mixed or average reviews
    based on a weighted average of all
    critic review scores.

  • 40

    out of 100

    Variety Emanuel Levy

    But Foster is unable to give the episodic, fragmented film a coherent feel; her prosaic, sometimes irritating picture proceeds scene by scene, with the requisite climaxes and anticlimaxes along the bumpy road.

    Read Full Review

  • 42

    out of 100

    Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

    Foster, working from a patchy, meandering script by W.D. Richter, produces scene after scene of rudderless banter. The movie is all asides, all nattering; the actors seem lost in their busy, fractious shticks.

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  • 50

    out of 100

    Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

    What results is a film with some bright spots but whose effect is finally as muddled and wearying as the event itself sometimes is.

    Read Full Review

  • 50

    out of 100

    USA Today Susan Wloszczyna

    But director Jodie Foster and writer W.D.Richter aren't content to serve the usual Planes, Trains and Cliches at their Thanksgiving feast. With her keen actor's instincts, Foster piles on plenty for her terrific cast to chew on and for us to savor. [03 Nov 1995, Pg.01.D]

  • 50

    out of 100

    ReelViews James Berardinelli

    Foster's film offers its fair share of laughs, although most come at the expense of "easy mark" characters. Dramatically, however, the movie is only a step up from a flop.

    Read Full Review

  • 60

    out of 100

    The New York Times Elvis Mitchell

    Ms. Foster and the screenwriter, W. D. Richter, have given this film some peculiar mood swings, so that it starts out zanily and winds down to a wistful note.

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  • 88

    out of 100

    Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

    Foster directs the film with a sure eye for the revealing little natural moment.

    Read Full Review

  • See all Home for the Holidays reviews at Metacritic.com

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For Families provided by Common Sense Media

Iffy for 14+

Funny, adult look at a dysfunctional holiday.

What Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that kids will probably be bored by this movie when they aren't scandalized by its adult themes: It shows families as many of them really are -- filled with people who are struggling to understand their connection to and love for people they don't understand or really like. There's plenty of swearing, and at one point Joanne launches into a tirade about how disgusting and perverted it is that her brother is in love with another man. Claudia kisses her boss after being fired. Claudia's teenage daughter announces that she's going to have sex with her boyfriend while her mother's away for the holiday.

  • Families can talk about any similarities they have to the Larson family. How does this movie compare totraditional "holiday classics"? Which do you prefer?
  • Do you feel disconnected from your family members? What do you do tocreate closeness and understanding between family members who are verydifferent?
  • Does being different have to mean hating one another?
  • Howwould you resolve a similar situation?
  • How does Tommy's family inBoston differ from his birth family?

The good stuff
  • message true3

    Messages: The movie is a sensitive portrayal of a family full of individuals who don't really know one another and wouldn't be friends if they weren't related.

  • rolemodels true0

    Role models: Every member of this family has issues, but that is their appeal. Since they aren't your family, it's okay to laugh. Just don't attempt to look to them for moral guidance.

What to watch for
  • violence false3

    Violence: Claudia's dad threatens to hit a child, half-jokingly. Tommy, Walter, and Leo get into a fight, and Leo's nose gets broken.

  • sex false3

    Sex: Claudia makes out with her boss and, later, with a man she just met. Aunt Gladys admits a crush on her brother-in-law and kisses him during a crazy Thanksgiving dinner. Lots of sexual innuendo.

  • language false3

    Language: Language includes "dammit," "son of a bitch," "holy s--t," "asshole," etc. Joanne lights into Tommy with an anti-gay tirade.

  • consumerism false3

    Consumerism: Jack in the Box gets a shout-out.

  • drugsalcoholtobacco false5

    Drinking, drugs and smoking: Claudia's mom chain-smokes, and Claudia smokes pot. There's considerable fighting fueled by holiday drinking.

An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology.

© Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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