The 7 Best Thanksgiving Movies To Watch This Turkey Day
Thanksgiving is a time where we all come together with our families to gorge ourselves on delicious turkey and side dishes. After all that gluttony, you really don't want to do anything but sit on the couch and watch some TV. While you're digesting all that turkey, treat yourself (and your fam) to one of these great Thanksgiving movies.
In this old classic, your pals Snoopy and Charlie Brown have to improvise a Thanksgiving dinner for their Peanuts pals. At only 25 minutes, it's the shortest film on the list, and a great one to watch with the younger family members.
April Burns (played by a young Katie Holmes) invites her estranged family to enjoy a Thanksgiving dinner in her tiny, dingy NYC apartment. Lots of dysfunction ensues, and April learns a lot about herself along the way. Sounds trite, but it's surprisingly charming and not over-the-top sentimental.
Directed by Jodie Foster, Home for the Holidays is another dysfunctional family Thanksgiving flick, but it certainly has its own style. After being fired from her job as an art restoration expert, Claudia Larson returns to her parents' house for Thanksgiving. Part rom-com, part drama, this movie is legitimately funny and watching it is a great way to spend Thanksgiving evening.
The Ice Storm is an intense family drama set around Thanksgiving in the 1970s. It explores themes of sexual experimentation, alcohol use, and both adult and youthful relationships. Not the best movie to watch with younger kids probably, but it's a well-directed, well-shot, and extremely engaging film.
Not the greatest or most original movie by critical standards, but it certainly has its own charm. Dutch is essentially a road movie about an immature man sent to pick his girlfriend's snobby son up from boarding school prior to Thanksgiving. It has its funny moments, and is definitely a crowd-pleaser.
This classic Woody Allen film begins and ends with Thanksgiving dinners two years apart and masterfully blends comedy and drama. It features Allen at his neurotic best. The writing is something to be admired. Really, just watch it.
This is hands-down my favorite Thanksgiving movie, and I think a lot of people would agree with me. Steve Martin plays Neal Page, a man who is desperate to make it home for Thanksgiving, but he just can't seem to shake the presence of the obnoxious Del Griffith. The movie is absolutely hilarious, it's sentimental in all the right ways, and it makes some valuable points about relying on the kindness of strangers.