Debra Messing Movie:

		List Price: $39.98		Label: Anchor Bay Salesrank: 17353 Released: October 27, 2009
		Our Price: $15.97
		Used Price: $14.29
		MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) Media: Blu-ray

Editorial Review:
John Leguizamo (Ice Age, Moulin Rouge!), Freddy Rodriguez (“Six Feet Under,” Bobby), Debra Messing (“Will & Grace,” “The Starter Wife”), and Alfred Molina (The Pink Panther 2) lead a hilarious ensemble cast in this humorous and heartwarming holiday story that is “laugh-out-loud-funny and downright touching." (MoviePictureFilm.com) It’s Christmastime in Chicago, and the far-flung members of the Rodriguez family are converging at their parents’ home to celebrate the season. During the course of this eventful week, traditions will be celebrated, secrets revealed, old resentments forgotten, familial bonds re-affirmed and the healing power of laughter will work its magic. Nothing Like The Holidays is a “heartfelt,” (Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times) gift for the whole family.

Description of Nothing Like the Holidays [Blu-ray]:
If Nothing Like the Holidays appears to have little in common with Frank Capra's small-town perennial It's a Wonderful Life, Alfredo De Villa's urban dramedy also mixes the bitter with the sweet. The fireworks begin when Eduardo and Anna Rodriguez (Alfred Molina and Elizabeth Peña) welcome their Puerto Rican brood to celebrate Christmas in Chicago: Iraq War veteran Jesse (Illinois native Freddy Rodríguez), struggling actress Roxanna (Death Proof’s Vanessa Ferlitto), and attorney Mauricio (John Leguizamo) and his tightly-wound spouse, Sarah (Debra Messing). While Roxanna finds herself drawn to family friend Ozzy (Jay Hernandez), a former gang-banger, Jesse struggles with his feelings for ex-girlfriend Marissa (Melonie Diaz), who's moved on in his absence, and Anna laments her lack of grandchildren, but when she announces she's divorcing Edy, a bodega proprietor, the entire clan decides to make the most of their last holiday together. If De Villa's intentions are honorable, and his cast is up to the task--especially Molina and Rodríguez--the two halves of his film make for an awkward fit. Jesse's shell-shocked veteran, for instance, belongs to a different movie than that of his wisecracking cousin, Johnny (Luis Guzmán). Then, when Ozzy picks up a gun in an act of revenge, domestic drama and ethnic comedy collide with the hood flick. Unlike the many brash and materialistic entertainments crowding the multiplex at the end of the year, Nothing Like the Holidays [Blu-ray] prioritizes cultural and emotional matters, but still registers as more of a missed opportunity than a contemporary classic. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Stills from Nothing Like the Holidays (Click for larger image)

Nothing Like the Holidays [Blu-ray] Reviews:
A Latino Family Christmas Well Cast But the Story Is Mired in Clichés
2009-11-29 - If you can envision mixing Thomas Bezucha's The Family Stone (2005) with Lin-Manuel Miranda's In The Heights (still running on Broadway), you will get a rough idea of what this 2008 family drama is all about. It's refreshing to see a holiday feature focused on the vibrancy of the Hispanic community, and director Alfredo De Villa does an energetic job celebrating the ethnicity found in Chicago's Puerto Rican-dominated Humboldt Park neighborhood. However, he gets little help from the by-the-numbers screenplay by Rick Najera and Alison Swan, which is mired in clichés and stock characters. The story works strictly within predictable convention by using a Christmas family reunion as an excuse for melodramatic revelations and confrontations among its members.

The plot elements are laid on thick. The Rodriguez family is headed by jovial bodega owner Edy, whose recently secretive behavior has convinced his hot-tempered wife Emma that he is having an affair. She unceremoniously announces at the family dinner table that she wants to file for a divorce. Oldest son Mauricio has become a smug, rather insufferable New Yorker and brings with him his high-powered wife Sarah, an uptight gringo on the verge of managing her own $300 million hedge fund. Much to Emma's chagrin, they have decided to put off having children to focus on their careers. Looking battle-weary and acting disengaged, younger son Jesse has just come home from a tour of duty in Iraq to find his ex-girlfriend settled down with another man. Daughter Roxanna is a struggling actress in LA whom the neighborhood thinks is going to be the next big star. Her life gets complicated by a budding romance with ex-gang member Ozzy, who is tormented by the shooting death of his brother. And as if it isn't obvious, an old, ugly tree in the Rodriguez front yard stands as a symbol of the family's solidarity.

All the characters are sketched in broad strokes rather than developed with nuance, so the film feels more suitable as a TBS TV show. Nonetheless, the cast is likeable and sometimes a bit more when given the chance. Alfred Molina ("Spider-Man 2"), a Brit of Spanish-Italian ancestry, has mastered a diverse array of ethnic roles in his career and plays Edy with convincing Latino flavor. Elizabeth Peña (Lone Star) is a welcome sight as Emma. A surprisingly restrained John Leguizamo (Moulin Rouge!) plays Mauricio, and an unsurprising Debra Messing (Will & Grace) plays to type as Sarah. Effective albeit limited work comes from Vanessa Ferlito (Grindhouse) as Roxana, Jay Hernandez (World Trade Center) as Ozzy, and Luis Guzmán providing comic relief as a jokester cousin obsessed with his hair. The film's best performance comes from Freddy Rodriguez (Federico in Six Feet Under) who realistically conveys Jesse's pain with a minimum of help from the trite script. Paul Oakenfold contributes the percolating soundtrack. The 200 DVD offers an entertaining commentary track from De Villa, Rodriguez, and producer Robert Teitel; a 12-minute featurette that reunites some of the cast members to discuss the making of the film; the original theatrical trailer; and the inescapable blooper reel.

Holiday Happiness!
2009-11-28 - What a fun little film. I wasn't expecting this movie to be both touching and funny but it was. Christmas, Chicago, Puerto Rican traditions, family angst and drama all thrown together. The cast is perfect as well. There's an Iraqi vet story, a revenge plot, an unmovable tree and a twist that will keep you interested. I especially liked John Leguizamo'a performance as a white collar working nerd. You don't often see him in that type of a role! Perfect for a cold winter's night.

3.5 is what I'd like to give it.
2009-11-27 - This movie is warm and affectionate, portraying the sweet and frustrating atmospherics of a family get-together rather than playing on bizarre family dynamics for laughs. But when the movie decides to get "important," it slides into the hackneyed and predictable. I enjoyed the first 2/3. The acting is wonderful and carries the movie, and the set design and execution is faithful and perfect. You truly felt that you were inside a home, and happy to be there. I only wish the same meticulous attention would have been paid to the plot. It's a Christmas movie, so a certain level of triteness is expected, but it could have been more "The Family Stone" and less Lifetime Network Presents with just a little more work.

Fun Family Flick
2009-11-24 - Nothing like the Holidays is just a fun family Christmas movie. It is far from a classic but a light hearted film about family and relationships that is worth watching if you don't have a traditional favorite you are dying to see. Nothing like the Holidays may describe your very own family holiday experience or it may be fun to simply watch and take in the craziness of another tradition

I'm reminded of another holiday movie...
2009-11-19 - While watching "Nothing Like the Holidays" I was repeatedly reminded of the touching/dramatic/ridiculous/hilarious "Home for the Holidays" (directed by Jodie Foster). Dysfunctional family gets together for a holiday, hilarity ensues.

Both movies feature similar themes: family member in denial, family member with career troubles, family with an emotional struggle, and so on. And both movies were hilarious. "Home..." was funny in a mostly dry-witted manner, while "Nothing..." is nearly pie-in-the-face funny.

But the seasonal message from both movies is the same: Spend time with your family; whether you want to not.

Nothing Like the Holidays is a solid entry into the modern family editions of Christmas Movies.