…and so you may missed that they are in fact Thanksgiving films

Hopefully your first Thanksgiving watch was A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973). This list is for watching after that most wholesome introduction:

 

PRISONERS (2013)

In Denis Villeneuve’s thriller, Hugh Jackman’s character (the Bruce Spingsteen lovin’, deer huntin’, independent contractin’ Father Keller Dover) offers some heavy-handed advice to his son early on: “Always be prepared for the worst in life” (thanks Dad). This sentiment may have devastatingly attracted a scenario that no parent can prepare for.

On Thanksgiving, the Dover family visits neighbours for dinner and while enjoying some adult beverages, their daughter and neighbour’s daughter take the minutes-long walk to the Dovers home. Hysteria sets is as the children don’t make it and well that’s great… so much for Thanksgiving.

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Additional musings: 

That’s pretty much the extent of the festivities in this harrowing tourturefest.

 

PLANES, TRAINS & AUTOMOBILES (1987)

Let’s lighten up this list with a classic road trip movie where Thanksgiving dinner is the destination. An odd couple pairing that outshines its source material and allows John Candy to deliver one of his greatest performances. Don’t let the R-rating from 1987 dictate which family members can enjoy this gem, this is PG by 2024 standards.

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Additional musings: 

“THOSE AREN’T PILLOWS!” Was it just me, or did anyone else watching this as a child not understand what “PILLOWS” could possible be. But I knew it wasn’t good.

 

DUTCH (1991)

Married with Children was on fire in 1991, and Al Bundy (Ed O’Neil) was the standout. So why not see if Ed could bring the same success to the big screen? Well that didn’t happen. Still, O’Neil has enjoyed a great career and critics be damned, this is a fun movie. Here he’s a working-class Joe tasked with driving his girlfriend’s stuck-up kid Doyle from Atlanta to Chicago for Thanksgiving.

To me Dutch feels as if John Hughes mixed two parts Planes, Trains & Automobiles and one part Home Alone and said “How’s this?” If you can look past the glaring similarities, this is good ol’ fashioned Hughes formula fun. However, Doyle’s obnoxiousness can wain on you.

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Additional musings: 

The fireworks are still super cool and I haven’t eaten bacon since without thinking about the quality of burps they envoke.

 

THE ICE STORM (1997)

Key parties and dorm room drugging aside, Ang Lee offers a cynical glimpse into two upper-class families set in 1973, where icy social relationships and dysfunction abound over the Thanksgiving weekend. Fear of the unknown leads to all types self-medication and experimentation, pressing the question: can these nuclear families survive?

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Additional musings: 

Christina Ricci’s character goes all Lisa Simpson-esque as she says grace before the main meal

 

THE BIG CHILL (1983)

The Big Chill is but another film that explores what it would have been like to survive the transcendent 1960’s only to be thrust into the mediocrity of the 1980’s (it also features Kevin Cline once again getting drunk a la The Ice Storm). A much more jovial drama than the name suggests, it owes a lot to its Motown soundtrack; one that revolutionized the movie music market, even outdoing Saturday Night Fever (1977). The Temptations provide the rhythm for what looks to be the most enjoyable Thanksgiving dinner clean up in history.

A powerful ensemble dramedy which begs the question: “Who’s going to sleep with whom?”

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Additional musings: 

A young Jeff Goldblum displays his early creeping out the ladies skills that would go on to define his career.