Screen Gems

Happy Holidays! Robert Downey Jr. as a gay man. We can’t stop laughing.

Home for the Holidays

Welcome to Screen Gems, our weekend dive into queer and queer-adjacent titles of the past that deserve a watch or a rewatch.

The Classic: Home for the Holidays

Jodie Foster helmed this drama-comedy set at Thanksgiving, though the screwy antics of the lovably dysfunctional family might as well take place at Christmas. Home for the Holidays chronicles the All-American Larsen family, in particular unemployed sister Claudia (played by Holly Hunter) and  her gay brother Tommy (Robert Downey, Jr, in one of his best performances). Together the pair plot to survive the holidays with their obssesive and crusty parents (Charles Durning & Anne Bancroft), and aging aunt (Geraldine Chaplin), whose mental deterioration wins some of the movie’s biggest laughs as well as its moving moments.

Home for the Holidays wasn’t a major success on release, though the movie proved very influential. It foreshadowed the later success of screwball holiday films from The Family Stone to Happiest Season. Foster proves herself a terrific director of actors, and Hunter & Downey have an irresistable chemistry as stressed out siblings. With a supporting cast that includes Claire Danes, Steve Guttenberg, Dylan McDermott and David Stratherin, we suggest giving a holiday watch. Much like holidays with real life family, these characters will drive you craze…and win your hearts.

Streams on Hulu, YouTube, Amazon & VUDU.

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