A casa per le vacanze

Plot In A Paragraph: After losing her job, making out with her (soon to be ex) boss, and finding out that her daughter plans to spend Thanksgiving with her boyfriend, Claudia Larson (Holly Hunter) has to face spending the holiday with her family.

Director Jodie Foster has assembled a ridiculously talented cast Holly Hunter, Anne Bancroft, Charles Durning (Whom I love, and am a big fan of) Robert Downey Jr, Dylan McDermott, Steve Guttenberg, Geraldine Chaplin, Claire Danes and Austin Pendleton.

However Robert Downey Jr steals this movie from a very talented cast. As Tommy, Larson's gay brother. Although Downey Jr has admitted to regularly using heroin during the filming of this movie, it is not affected performance one bit. Listening to director Jodie Foster on the commentary track on the DVD, it would appear that Downey Jr was a pain to work with the times, as he kept improvising and going off on a whim. So I'm not sure who the praise should be aimed at Downey Jr for being able to give a good performance during such a troubled time in his life, or Foster for getting the performance out of him!!

I am so glad I found this movie. It is a snug little favorite of mine already. I come from a big family (all weirdos) who somehow get along very well. But this story of a bunch of weirdos who do not is just GRAND. Others may say that the themes of family and home and blah blah are the central idea here, but I say it is that Claudia (Hunter, playing our protagonist) has a really wonderful brother (Downey Jr. who nearly steals this film altogether).

Brother Tommy comes home for the holidays unexpectedly because he finds out his sister has just had a reaaaaalllly bad day (fired from her job, teen daughter announces she's going to have sex, loses her coat, makes out with her boss, etc) and dealing alone with the family would be unthinkable. He arrives with some hilarious fanfare, and proves to be excellent moral support for Hunter, a distraction for his family, and the provender of an interesting new element....in the person of Leo Fish, who may or may not be Tommy's new "partner."

Tommy ((heavily embellished and ad-libbed by Downey...listen carefully to his banter...hilarious)ends up taking the inevitable flack for his gayness (probably why he was not going to come home in the first place) but her lets it roll off his back, choosing instead to enjoy his sister's company and his parents' foibles. He also really enjoys (and so do we) watching Claudia and Leo Fish figure each other out.

They do...albeit obliquely and elliptically, with the conclusion sort of up in the air (hee hee). But in the process we are treated to Leo's very funky and offhand outlook on life. Listen for his very wry speech about trying to talk golf with his own father...."Par Par Bogie Bogie Par Par" has become a catchphrase for "blah blah blah" in my house...

Anne Bancroft and Hunter are stellar, and McDermott is darned cute (the making-out-on-the-doorstep scene is darling). But Downey (yet again) is the one you watch. The director's commentary by Foster gives a clue that he was frustrating to work with, but it seems very worth it here. He is just SO watchable, boistrous, too-energetic, motor-mouthed and loveable. We should all have such a brother. Lucky Claudia.

OH! Don't miss the turkey scene. Play it again to catch the peripheral characters' faces. I cannot wait for Thanksgiving!

This is a great little gem of a film. The whole time i was watching this film i couldn't help but notice the similarities to my family. The craziness, the fights i mean everything. I laughed so hard during this film but mostly when Robert Downey Jr. was on screen. It is not to say that Holly Hunter was bad, she was quite good as was everyone else but Downey had this presense on the screen and he just stole the movie. while it was apparent he was using heavily he was still at his best on screen. The DVD commentary by Jodie Foster really gives insight to the film and it really sounds like Downey was a pain to work with because of his improvising everything but you feel she has a genuine sisterly love for him. Bottom line is that it was a funny, insightful, and realistic film.

I have never written a review before, though I am frequently on IMDB, but now I think it is my duty to let prospective watchers of this movie know that it is really very good. Holly Hunter, Robert Downey Jr, and Anne Bancroft are all highlights. Cynthia Stevenson and Geraldine Chaplin are great too. The story is funny and smart, and Jodie Foster got most of the details right on. Rent this movie on Thanksgiving for the full effect; I do every year.

"Nobody means what they say on Thanksgiving, Mom. That's what the holiday is all about. Torture." - Claudia

That is my favorite line in this, one of my favorite movies. This is a holiday at anyone's home: a congregation of people you love beyond comprehension and hate beyond belief but are bound to by blood. There are so many wonderful and true moments in this film both funny and dramatic, that I cannot possibly name them all except to say that these moments, even the one between the sisters near the end, are what we give thanks for even if they are painful. Yes family gatherings are dreaded, but once they are over we are happy to have attended, because somewhere amidst the chaos we remember why we love these people, where we came from, who we are, and what is truly important in this life. coming to realizations such as this inevitably involves torture. we would much rather not think about it... this movie forces us to. Great movie.