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Thanksgiving movies don’t get the credit they deserve. We get a ton of Christmas, Halloween and other holiday movies canonized as classics and added to the yearly viewing rotation, but Thanksgiving has always remained the day when people slowly food-coma themselves into oblivion in front of football or parades.
Still, I think it’s time to spotlight a few pretty great Thanksgiving movies for those of us who prefer cinema to sports and celebrate the genius it takes to build a movie around a problematic holiday where the most excitement involved is usually how many deviled eggs one can eat before things go south.
‘Planes, Trains and Automobiles’
This is the obvious one for people of a certain generation, but I’ll always bring this 1987 film up when younger folks are around to keep the appreciation of John Candy alive for a thousand years to come. This classic follows an uptight ad exec and a talkative but affable salesman as they go on a very circuitous journey from New York to Chicago to try to make it home for Thanksgiving. It remains endlessly quotable, genuinely heartwarming and a good reminder that the holiday isn’t about pilgrims as much as a celebration of the people we love and choose to share our lives with.
‘Knives Out’
While the film isn’t specifically set on Thanksgiving, it is still the perfect viewing antidote for those of us who have complicated relationships with our family. It’s a classic cinematic throwback to detectives like Marple, Poirot and Holmes, but all centered around a profoundly dysfunctional family played by a murderers’ row of great actors including Michael Shannon, Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Johnson, Christopher Plummer and Toni Collette. Watching these characters sit around a table and squabble over petty insecurities reminds me of too many Thanksgivings to count and, for good or ill, feels pretty nostalgic.
‘You’ve Got Mail’
While only briefly touching on Thanksgiving, “You’ve Got Mail” is still a perfect romance to watch with your person after dinner. With a chemistry that I’m not sure any actors have achieved since, Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan are so effortlessly charming and dreamy that it’s hard not to fall in love with them, too.
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‘Big Night’
Not connected to Thanksgiving in any way other than in how it celebrates family and food, “Big Night” should still be played as an appetizer to the Thanksgiving meal since I’m not sure food has ever looked more delicious onscreen before or since. Stanley Tucci, Tony Shalhoub, Minnie Driver, Ian Holm and Isabella Rossellini cook up something truly delicious here that makes my mouth water just thinking about it.
There are so many other solid Thanksgiving canon choices. For the horror movie fanatic in your life, you could show Eli Roth’s turkey slasher, “Thanksgiving.” For the boomer in your life, there’s “The Big Chill.” The little ones will always appreciate “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.” If you’re after a heartwarming dramedy, don’t forget about the Jodie Foster-directed “Home for the Holidays.” Or if you want to focus on the historical perspective, Terence Malick’s “The New World” is an underseen classic. Spike Lee’s “She’s Gotta Have It” has one of the tensest Thanksgiving dinners committed to film. And “Pieces of April” reminds us to forgive and find gratitude in the small things.
Me? My go-to movie for Thanksgiving is “Fellowship of the Ring.” Why, you may ask? Two reasons: 1) It’s the coziest movie ever made. The shire is all vibes and I want them religiously. 2) Hearing Sam Gamgee exclaim, “Po-ta-toes! Boil ’em, mash ’em, stick ’em in a stew” makes me hungry, happy and full of thanks.
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