Home for the Holidays

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Home for the Holidays

PG-13

1995

1h 43m

Holiday

Comedy

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Popcornmeter

64%

Tomatometer

45 Reviews

71%

Popcornmeter

10,000+ Ratings

When her teenage daughter opts out of Thanksgiving, single mother Claudia Larson (Holly Hunter) travels alone to her childhood home for an explosive holiday dinner with her dysfunctional family. Claudia quickly tires of her parents, her long-suffering sister (Cynthia Stevenson), her snobby brother-in-law (Steve Guttenberg) and her nutty aunt (Geraldine Chaplin). But the evening gets interesting when sparks fly between Claudia and her brother's handsome friend Leo Fish (Dylan McDermott).

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Critics Consensus

Much like a real-life visit Home for the Holidays, this Thanksgiving-set dramedy can get a little bumpy -- but it also has its share of fondly memorable moments.

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Anne Billson

Daily Telegraph (UK)

Nov 27, 2017

Single mom Holly Hunter is fired from her job at a Chicago museum on the very day she is due to fly back to Baltimore to cope with nutty parents, loony aunt, wacky gay brother and boring sister. That's it -- that's the plot. Read it and weep.

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Emanuel Levy

Variety

Oct 18, 2008

B

Foster's second directorial effort is a vividly drawn if too episodic portrait of an eccentric family, well acted by the entire cast, especially Holly Hunter and Robery Downey Jr.

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Janet Maslin

New York Times

May 20, 2003

2.5/5

Spirited but uneven.

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Sep 22, 2021

3/4

Celebrates the family unit without ever getting sanctimonious about its merits.

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Austin Trunick

Under the Radar

Oct 18, 2017

The Larsons aren't [a] fake sort of sitcom-y zany ... They're the mix of pent-up emotions, unspoken admiration, lifelong grudges, and unconditional love that's reflected in the grand majority of real, American families.

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Emily Sears

Birth.Movies.Death.

Sep 26, 2017

Home for the Holidays is a perfect representation of why they say you can't go home again.

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Don C

@friendofdiana Oct 10, 2026

This has become my Thanksgiving go-to movie. It has a funny-sweet-melancholic vibe. The actors are terrific, the plot is good, and it all just affirms why I love Thanksgiving so much. It is quirky, just like my Christmas go-to is the Stanwyck/MacMurray vehicle, Remember the Night. This movie sets up the holiday season perfectly, which any great Thanksgiving movie should do!

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Kristy M

@RT31556320 Sep 29, 2026

Love this movie. It's funny and relatable.

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John M

@JonnyMaff Dec 22, 2025

I absolutely Love this movie and I watch it every year at the holidays. I really feel like it spoke to me, forget the hate mail you read - a must watch (for me anyway)

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Larry K.

@Jakeflip Nov 23, 2025

Awful - pretensious - a waste of 2 hours.

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Debii L

@RT24380442 Nov 21, 2025

This is my absolute favorite T-Day holiday movie, and I watch it every year. I laugh my head off as it depicts most of the family dynamics I have ever seen. And yet, at the end, there are tears of gratitude from me for having such as wacky family myself. Don't pay much attention to what the critics say. This one definitely needs to be on your list.

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Stephen C

@bob25009 Jul 1, 2025

Funny in 1 hour and 43 minutes.

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Jodie Foster

Director

Holly Hunter

Claudia Larson

Robert Downey Jr.

Tommy Larson

Anne Bancroft

Adele Larson

Charles Durning

Henry Larson

Dylan McDermott

Leo Fish

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Synopsis

When her teenage daughter opts out of Thanksgiving, single mother Claudia Larson (Holly Hunter) travels alone to her childhood home for an explosive holiday dinner with her dysfunctional family. Claudia quickly tires of her parents, her long-suffering sister (Cynthia Stevenson), her snobby brother-in-law (Steve Guttenberg) and her nutty aunt (Geraldine Chaplin). But the evening gets interesting when sparks fly between Claudia and her brother's handsome friend Leo Fish (Dylan McDermott).

Director: Jodie Foster
Producer: Jodie Foster, Peggy Rajski
Screenwriter: Chris Radant, W.D. Richter
Production Co: Paramount Pictures, PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, Egg Pictures
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Holiday, Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 1, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $17.0M
Runtime: 1h 43m
Sound Mix: Surround

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