This is a warning to anyone who might think this is a comedy about a dysfunctional family at Thanksgiving dinner. This is in my opinion one of the worst movies ever made, for one simple reason: the actors are allowed to pull out the stops without any dramatic purpose or direction. The holiday gatherings of families are often fraught with tension and conflict and can be the basis of much comedy, but this is hardly a comedy. The character played by Robert Downey Jr. is a mean, selfish, sadistic, substance abusing jerk. That the Holly Hunter character, his sister, puts up with him at all seems to be a serious case of masochism on her part, not a sign of undying sisterly love as the movie suggests. The guy she's going to marry is even worse. What you see is actors exaggerating their parts to the extent that the characters are obliterated. Don't bother.
Review of Home for the Holidays
