36 Thoughts I Had While Rewatching ‘Home for the Holidays’

I love holiday movies with a passion, but all the forced cheer and perfection can also annoy me—which is why the 1995 film Home for the Holidays has always been my absolute favorite. Not only is it a rare Thanksgiving movie in a field of Christmas ones (shoutout to its peer Pieces of April), but it’s also directed by Jodie Foster, and stars Holly Hunter as a burnt-out single mom whose holiday exhaustion is all too real. Without further ado, find all my thoughts upon rewatching the film below:

1. Aw, look at Holly Hunter painting a…fresco?
2. She is truly the most charming woman alive, and I beg you to rewatch Broadcast News if you don’t believe me.
3. Oh no, she got fired 🙁
4. And she made out with the man firing her? Kind of iconic, if he were hotter.
5. God, the sight of an airport terminal before the holidays is giving me vicarious stress.
6. Okay, Claire Danes’s holiday motto of “just float” is genuinely useful to me.
7. Claire Danes is having Thanksgiving dinner with her BF, and Holly Hunter is clearly stressed about it.
8. Well, for good reason, since Claire quickly blurts out that she’s planning on having sex with said BF.
9. I’m obsessed with this wall of pay phones at the airport, all in use by people fighting with their families.
10. I know this was roughly 20 years pre-COVID, but Holly flying while sick is viscerally upsetting me.
11. “You know Stella, she’s a chocoholic.” Mom’s gonna mom!
12. I know the cranberry-colored coat Holly’s mom forces on her is supposed to be ugly, but I kind of…like it?
13. Aw, at least Holly’s irritating parents seem to have a happy marriage.
14. Moms really are soooo good at knowing when you’ve been fired, or when some other cataclysmic thing you’re lying about has happened to you.
15. First cig of the film: respect.
16. Fatphobia at Thanksgiving: As American as apple pie.
17. Hey, it’s Robert Downey Jr.!
18. Oh yeah, and he’s gay in this movie!
19. Damn, Robert Downey Jr.’s friend Leo (who is not his boyfriend, we learn) is cute.
20. Speaking of Claire Danes, my man is really serving Jordan Catalano with this haircut.
21. “It’s the ’90s” spoken aloud in a film will always slay me.
22. “I have no pride, I have no rights, I’m only four years old”—family Thanksgiving motto.
23. God, running into former popular girls from high school really is the worst part of the holiday season (and there’s a lot of competition).
24. Aw, Leo comes to Holly’s defense with said popular girl.
25. Holly’s aunt has 200 plants, and I, as an aspiring plant daddy, am jealous (even though she’s clearly nutso).
26. Holly and RDJ’s conservative sister shows up to be homophobic, just in time for dinner.
27. LMAO, can’t say I’m not enjoying this scene of the homophobic sister having turkey and gravy poured on her.
28. Aw, RDJ married his boyfriend!
29. A pantry can be such an invaluable place to have a Thanksgiving fight with your mom.
30. This scene of RDJ and Holly defeatedly eating together in the kitchen is soooo real.
31. Obsessed with Claire’s little mini-cardigan!
32. Aw, RDJ’s dad congratulates him on his marriage.
33. OMG, Leo only came to Thanksgiving because he saw Holly’s picture ahead of time. Romantic. IMO!
34. Brittany (the conservative sister’s kid) is deeply annoying, I’m sorry.
35. Ooh, Leo/Holly make-out!
36. Oh my God, and he’s going back to Chicago with her? I die.