The defence The Sentimental Softie
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
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Home for the Holidays
Comedy · Drama · Romance · 1995
After losing her job, making out with her soon-to-be former boss, and finding out that her daughter plans to spend Thanksgiving with her boyfriend, Claudia Larson faces spending the holiday with her unhinged family.
Movie details
Home for the Holidays
“On the fourth Thursday in November, 84 million American families will gather together... And wonder why.”
1995 Comedy · Drama · Romance 1h 43m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
6.3 / 10
Community rating
After losing her job, making out with her soon-to-be former boss, and finding out that her daughter plans to spend Thanksgiving with her boyfriend, Claudia Larson faces spending the holiday with her unhinged family.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Home for the Holidays?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
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Queen Bees
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Helen is an independent widow who moves into the Pine Grove Senior Community and discovers it’s just like high school – full of cliques and flirtatious suitors. What she initially avoids leads her to exactly what she has been missing: new friendships and a chance at love again with newcomer Dan.
Almost Christmas
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A dysfunctional family gathers together for their first Christmas since the death of their matriarch.
Happiest Season
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A young woman's plans to propose to her girlfriend while at her family's annual holiday party are upended when she discovers her partner hasn't yet come out to her conservative parents.
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Jodie Foster
Written by
W.D. Richter · Chris Radant
Holly Hunter
Claudia Larson
Robert Downey Jr.
Tommy Larson
Anne Bancroft
Adele Larson
Charles Durning
Henry Larson
Dylan McDermott
Leo Fish
Geraldine Chaplin
Aunt Glady
Steve Guttenberg
Walter Wedman
Court is in session
Put Home for the Holidays on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Cool Ironist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.