Nothing Like the Holidays Review
by Steve Rhodes (steve DOT rhodes AT internetreviews DOT com)December 12th, 2008
NOTHING LIKE THE HOLIDAYS
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2008 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): ***
Like a snowball going downhill, gaining size and momentum as it travels, the neighbors in a very Puerto Rican area of Chicago join in for a massive singing of Christmas carols. Going from door to door, the crowd and the joy of the singing increases exponentially. And, the most surprising part of this Christmas movie is that this mass singing of "O Come All Ye Faithful" is not the least bit ironic. Most Christmas movies use the season's happy tunes as merely a sardonic commentary on the awfulness of life.
The only thing ironic about NOTHING LIKE THE HOLIDAYS is the title, since the story is exactly like holidays, or at least the way you'd hope they'd be.
When the film opens, Jesse Rodriguez (Freddy Rodriguez), a soldier coming home from the war in Iraq, has arrived at the airport. Greeting him are his life-long buddies, Johnny (Luis Guzman) and Ozzy (Jay Hernandez). They are there to whisk him home to a big holiday meal, which his mother is busy preparing. Along the way, they stop for a quick game of baseball, just like they did when they were young.
Right away, the charms of this heart-warming -- even if completely predictable -- film become obvious. Shot under a bright winter sun, the thick snows glistens and sparkles. In fact, the whole movie is so attractively shot by cinematographer Scott Kevan that watching the images alone becomes a major treat.
The best present, however, that NOTHING LIKE THE HOLIDAYS gives to viewers are the characters. Universally likable, their foibles are easily dismissed or suspected of not even being true.
At the dinner table, Anna (Elizabeth Pena), the mother of the Rodriguez family, announces that she plans on divorcing her husband Edy. It seems that he has been taking many mysterious phone calls lately, and she thinks he must be cheating on her. That he doesn't deny it, in most stories, would confirm his guilt, but, in this one, it only reinforces in the viewer's mind the obvious conclusion that Edy has bigger problems that a discovered affair.
Other members of the family include Jesse's sister Roxanna (Vanessa Ferlito) and his brother Mauricio (John Leguizamo). Mauricio's wife Sarah (Debra Messing) is a high powered executive about to run a hedge fund. With her creamy white skin, her bright red hair and her Jewish background, she is the only polar opposite character in the narrative. But, as we learn, she fits in fine after all, and is happy to be a member of the Rodriguez family.
Sure, the family "bickers" a lot, but, except for the mother-father dispute, all of the arguing is merely playful. In short, they are just the sort of family that you'd love to have ask you over to visit for the holidays. One of the few problems with the story is that everyone gets along so well and is so close that, initially, it isn't at all clear who are family and who are friends. This is a problem one wishes the entire world had.
Although NOTHING LIKE THE HOLIDAYS has its share of poignant moments, it isn't some sappy melodrama. It's a sweet and endearing comedy. My favorite parts come when the mother attempts, quite seriously but completely ineffectually, to discipline her grown children. No matter how vigorously she demands that they must "get in the house" or "go to your room," her orders are universally ignored. So it is when your kids grow up. They probably never followed your commands very well when they were younger, and, now that they are older, your power over them has disappeared entirely. All that is left is love, and the hope they you raised them well enough so that they can now make their own way in the world.
NOTHING LIKE THE HOLIDAYS runs 1:39. It is rated PG-13 for "thematic elements including some sexual dialogue, and brief drug references" and would be acceptable for kids around 8 and up.
The film opens nationwide in the United States on Friday, December 12, 2008. In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the AMC theaters, the Century theaters and the Camera Cinemas.
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