Thursday, December 24, 2020 - “Home for the Holidays” (1995).

Home for the Holidays goes a lot farther than its title would suggest. Not to be mistaken for a Lifetime or Hallmark seasonal family comedy, Jodie Foster’s sophomore effort as a director carries artistic chops, the likes of which are lifted by its cast ––– most notably, Holly Hunter, Robert Downey Jr. and Dylan McDermott.

Claudia Larsen (Hunter) works in art restoration at a gallery in Chicago –––– even if only for the film’s first five minutes. Few plot devices can set a film in motion with the same blend of energy, fear, and freedom as being let go, and such is the case here. Claudia responds by booking a flight to her parents’ house for Thanksgiving, thus sending her home . . . for the holidays. Her brother, Tommy (Downey Jr.), makes a surprise visit as well, bringing along a friend who may or may not be his new paramour, Leo Fish (McDermott).

This is what happens in seasonal family films: at least once or twice, connections between family members have to unravel to a near-breaking point, and then –––– just before it appears that all is lost –––– ravel back together again, all the while making everyone stronger and more resilient as a result. Home for the Holidays does this at least once, but only kind of.

Its strength lies less in the raveling or unraveling of connections, but more so in the overall climate that’s created by the interwoven lives of the three Larson siblings, Claudio, Tommy, and their sister Joanne (Cynthia Stevenson), who, when enraged, walks slowly and deliberately on a stair-master, which is the same machine she uses to bring to a head an altercation with Claudia by offering, “Do you mind? This is the only thing that I do all day that I like.”

The question of whether Claudia and Leo will form a bond strong enough to keep them together across a fifteen hundred mile distance (Leo might be living in Montana, but it’s unclear ––– he travels a lot!) is alluring enough. Two or three of the film’s strongest moments take place after everyone else has either gone to bed, or have busied themselves with other tasks, and it’s just Leo and Claudia in the frame, charming one another. In one such moment, while wrapped within the euphoric calm of a night that follows a day filled with boisterous family gatherings, Leo, standing outside Claudia’s door, asks her to be brave. It’s a beautiful, quiet, and spellbinding scene; you won’t be able to look away.