Taglines: We’ll do it every year..until we get it right.
Home for the Holidays movie storyline. 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).
Home for the Holidays is a 1995 comedy-drama film directed by Jodie Foster and produced by Peggy Rajski and Foster. The screenplay was by W. D. Richter based on the short story by Chris Radant. The music score was by Mark Isham and the cinematography by Lajos Koltai. The film stars Holly Hunter, Robert Downey Jr., Anne Bancroft, Charles Durning, Dylan McDermott, Geraldine Chaplin, Steve Guttenberg, Cynthia Stevenson, Claire Danes, Austin Pendleton and David Strathairn.
About the Story
Claudia Larson, a single mom who has just been fired from her job as an art restorer due to budget cuts, flies from Chicago to spend Thanksgiving at the Baltimore home of her parents, Adele and Henry Larson, while her only child Kitt decides to stay home and spend the holiday with her boyfriend.
As she is dropping her mother off at the airport, Kitt informs Claudia that she intends to have sex with her boyfriend for the first time while she’s gone. While on the plane, Claudia makes a phone call to Tommy, her younger brother and confidant who she believes won’t be attending the Thanksgiving dinner, telling him that she lost her job, made out with her boss, and knows that her daughter is going to sleep with her boyfriend.
When Claudia arrives at the airport, she is greeted by her parents, who drive her to their home and help her unpack. Claudia remarks that she’s thinking of looking into new careers, and her mother concludes that Claudia lost her job, which she initially denies. That night, Tommy arrives with his new friend Leo Fish, who Claudia believes to be his boyfriend. Claudia is glad to see her brother, but fears that he and Jack, his boyfriend, broke up.
The next day, more family members arrive, including their eccentric Aunt Glady (Adele’s sister), who brings more than two hundred plants with her. While returning home after picking up groceries, Claudia runs into a girl she used to go to school with. As Claudia doesn’t want to mention her divorce, Leo poses as Claudia’s husband. The next family member to arrive is Claudia’s resentful, conservative sister, Joanne Larson Wedman, accompanied by her stuffy banker brother-in-law Walter and their two spoiled children.
On Thanksgiving Day, a series of mishaps occur. Aunt Glady professes her love for Henry, and Tommy accidentally spills the turkey all over Joanne. Joanne, in turn, reveals to everyone that Tommy married his boyfriend Jack in a beach wedding several months before. Their parents are hurt that they weren’t told, and Adele retreats to a hidden room by the kitchen, where Claudia attempts to console her.
After the meal, Tommy, Leo, Walter, and the children play football while Henry washes the Wedmans’ car. When the football hits the car, however, Henry shoves Tommy onto the ground and threatens him. Henry sprays them with water, and the Wedmans jump into the car and leave, soapsuds and all.
The family returns inside, where they talk for a while. Kitt calls Claudia to say that she’s fine and she’s decided not to sleep with her boyfriend. The phone rings a second time, and Henry answers; it turns out to be Jack calling. Before handing the phone over to Tommy, Henry says that he’s happy for both of them.
Adele insists that Claudia and Leo drive Aunt Glady home, then deliver leftovers to Joanne’s family. Claudia goes down to the Wedmans’ basement, where Joanne is exercising, to talk to her. Joanne says, “If we were strangers, and you gave me your phone number, I’d throw it away.” Claudia responds that they don’t have to like each other, because they’re related.
On the drive home, Leo tells Claudia that Tommy showed him a picture of her, and he came to Thanksgiving to meet her. The two talk for a while in the living room at her parents’ house; but Tommy, who is sleeping on the floor, wakes up and reminds Leo that they have to get an early start in the morning. Claudia retreats upstairs to her room; Leo follows her, but is unable to persuade her to let him in.
Home for the Holidays (1995)
Directed by: Jodie Foster
Starring: Holly Hunter, Robert Downey Jr., Anne Bancroft, Dylan McDermott, Geraldine Chaplin, Steve Guttenberg, Claire Danes, Cynthia Stevenson, Charles Durning, Amy Yasbeck
Screenplay by: W. D. Richter
Production Design by: Andrew McAlpine
Cinematography by: Lajos Koltai
Film Editing by: Lynzee Klingman
Costume Design by: Susan Lyall
Set Decoration by: Barbara Drake
Art Direction by: James E. Tocci
Music by: Mark Isham
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for thematic material, language and brief drug use.
Distributed by: Paramount Pictures
Release Date: November 3, 1995
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