Thanksgiving films can be a little tricky to find. Just like department stores skip over Thanksgiving every year in a rush to get to Christmas, the movie industry by and large ignores Turkey Day in favor of films centered around Santa Claus and December 25. Don’t worry though, Blockbuster has your back this long weekend. Below are four Thanksgiving-themed movies sure to be fan favorites this Thursday.
4. Hannah and Her Sisters
A Woody Allen Manhattan mosaic, Hannah and Her Sisters concerns the lives, loves and infidelities among a tightly-knit artistic clan. Hannah (Mia Farrow) regularly meets with her sisters Holly (Dianne Wiest) and Lee (Barbara Hershey) to discuss the week’s events. It’s what they don’t always tell each other that forms the film’s various subplots. Hannah is married to accountant and financial planner Elliot (Michael Caine), who carries a torch for Lee, who in turn lives with pompous Soho artist Frederick (Max Von Sydow). Meanwhile, Holly, a neurotic actress and eternal loser in love, dates TV producer Mickey (Allen), who used to be married to Hannah and spends most of the film convinced that he’s about to die. This film begins and ends with the traditional November holiday.
3. Pieces of April
Somewhat of a cult holiday classic from the Independent Film Channel, Pieces of April features a young Katie Holmes as April, a New York Lower East Side bohemian who tries to entertain her conservative family for Thanksgiving. But no one holds back their opinions and everything seems to go wrong as they so often do in when family and holidays mix. See how the holiday divides and brings together again family and neighbors despite all their many differences in this late ’90s film.
It’s been said that while most people love their families, they don’t always like them very much. Well, that emotional dividing line is at the heart of this star-studded movie featuring Holly Hunter, Robert Downey, Jr., Claire Danes, Dylan McDermott, and Steve Guttenberg. Claudia has been having a hard time as she heads to her parents’ home for Thanksgiving; she just lost her job, she’s not feeling well and her teenage daughter (Danes) just told her that she plans on losing her virginity to her boyfriend during the weekend. Combine all that with drunken family secrets and fighting siblings and it’s going to be one long holiday weekend.
1. Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
This John Hughes classic is the reigning champ of Thanksgiving films and for good reason. Both Steve Martin and the late John Candy are brilliant throughout the film as newly acquainted odd-couple Neal Page (Martin) and Del Griffith (Candy) trying to get home from New York to Chicago in time for Thanksgiving. As the two team up to try to overcome all kinds of transportation misfortunes on their journey home, there’s only one problem: Neal can’t stand Del and would do just about anything to leave him behind. Aside from one expletive-laden scene at an airport counter (that many people can relate to), this one is relatively family-friendly. Also, keep an eye out for a Kevin Bacon cameo.
