Vite parallele

So this is where it gets a little weird for me. Ordinarily I can not stand movies like this. That happy horse dung that they force-feed you from W or hallmark networks.

This came on tv by chance (NOT on one of those networks I might add. I wouldn't be caught dead watching that) I went for a shower and came back and it was on the screen. The film is essentially a remake of "The Family Man" starring Nicholas Cage, and I absolutely love that film.

I'm not a sucker for holiday films like most people, and I especially hate thanksgiving. Absolutely hate the fake holiday that people use an excuse to gorge themselves and give in to disgusting practices. (Because nothing says "thanks" like gluttony)

Despite that, I've enjoyed Daphne Zuniga in things past and made me nostalgic for the good days of television when even the trash was conceptual and entertaining (Melrose Place, anybody?)

So I gave this film a try and it was decent. It has a lot more substance than the other crap that just preys on the weak and soft to make an easy buck.

Nothing will ever replace "The Family Man", its one of very very few "holiday films" that I can or will tolerate. So this film sat well with me, with a very understanding yet heartwarming appeal and didn't try to oversell like the cookie cutter approach to most made-for-tv garbage.

If this can win even a hardened person like me over, it probably deserves a watch.

The acting is quite simplistic but it doesn't feel forced either. I appreciate that we are viewing what seem to be normal people. Not characters filling a void to parlé along a storyline.

The ending is about as typical as you could expect. But how could it be any other way. I laughed, of course. But it wasn't to be cynical, it was more of letting go and embracing the innevitable.

Naturally in life we can't go back and change things. I think this is a testament to people's complacency and uninspired lifestyles. But also shows that there is more to life than only what you deem or make important.

A concept that is utterly lost on society today. Which is why "Thanksgiving" is such a sham of a holiday. Self-gratifying for your own selfish endeavours, while this film depicts the exact opposite.

What could, and what should be. Often times are one in the same, but seldom ever occur. This was a nice breath of fresh air from the phony garbage people deem "important" today. Your agenda isn't important, ethics and morals are.

This film will teach you that.

A nice little film with a much bigger heart.

I give this a 6.5 out 10. Rounded up to a 7, which is the highest rating i can possibly give to this type of film. So for all intents and purposes, its a 10 for tv.

A hard working attorney is shown how her life would be is she had a husband and kids. Claudia (Daphne Zuniga) is the successful trial attorney who graduated at the top of her class from Harvard Law School. She's working hard to become the first female partner within a high-powered firm. She believes her life is 'perfect'. Her sister asks her the day before to prepare for the family Thanksgiving a homemade apple pie. Claudia, however, is everything but the homemaker her sister is, and is annoyed by the request because she doesn't have 'time' for such things.

Meanwhile, Claudia is directed to assist a corporate client in reversing an injunction so that it can demolish a park to build an enormous development. In order to realize this, she insists her subordinate employees work on Thanksgiving Day, because the court hearing is the day after. During this process, Claudia meets Gina (Faye Dunaway), a mysterious older woman who makes it her goal to teach Claudia some moral lessons. Gina takes Claudia to an alternative world, where Claudia is a lower profile happily married minivan-driving 'soccer mom' with two children.

Claudia is perplexed by the situation she is now in, but while experiencing her new life, the way it could have been, she learns that she is missing out on a lot; despite past prejudice regarding married life, she eventually finds she's falling in love with the man to whom she is married, and she becomes accustomed to the new life she is leading. Furthermore, she grows closer to her sister. Just as she is about to settle with her new life, Gina returns to take her back. Claudia is reluctant to return to her corporate life, and thus must consider what she is most thankful for.

What I hated about this film that is shows that women are not happy until they have a husband and kids. This very stupid. I think a better story line is that she breaks with her husband and would of been shown what life she will miss out on.

The performances in this film are good. I just have a huge problem with the hidden message that "Women are only happy when they are married. That is insulting.

It is a reasonable question to ask what Family Man would have been like if Nicholas Cage had played a workaholic career woman attorney instead of a male Wall Streeter. The producers of A Family Thanksgiving have answered that question. Don Cheadle has been recast as Faye Dunaway but Faye and the script make it a less entertaining part. The kids are older now while the spouse is a stranger instead of an old love. There are a couple nice twists to the Family Man plot. It is interesting to feel different emotional impact when the protagonist finding herself in various family situations is not a man as in Family Man. I was disappointed that the emotional peak of Family Man is missing due to one of the script differences--made me feel like I was watching a TV movie. Bottom line is I enjoyed it and intend to watch it again to examine more closely the emotional impact of the gender switch. But if you haven't seen either and can only see one, see Family Man.

Gave this 5 stars simply because 5 is right in the middle...as in no better, no worse than any of the other movies in the "Hallmark Holiday" genre.

If you like the sappy, all wrapped up in a heartwarming, happy ending type movie, you'll probably like this one too. If you're not a big fan of these movies, this probably isn't going to change your view.

It follows the same basic "story" or "message" as so many others. Sure, maybe the details differ, maybe the scenario is reversed (riches to rags vs. rags to riches, a woman vs. a man etc.). But yet.... Just another holiday movie.

So, like I said in the title... If you've seen one, you've seen them all!

I will say though, the acting in this one is better than a lot of others, but again, nothing extraordinary to make you want to run out and see it.

I was pretty disappointed in this movie. It had 3 to 4 curse words and it is rated G from Hallmark. The lead character was way too manic. For me, once was enough for this movie.