Every year in December, there are a handful of Christmas movies that get released to theaters. At least one of those films will feature a family with many problems. Before 2007, these types of films featured only Caucasian families. That changed in 2007 when This Christmas got released and it featured an African-American family with problems. Last year, Nothing Like the Holidays got released and it featured a Puerto Rican family with problems. Now that film is out on DVD one has to wonder what will be the next race or ethnicity to have problems around the holidays.
In Nothing Like the Holidays, it’s the first time in three years that the entire Rodriguez family is able to come home for Christmas in Chicago. Edy (Alfred Molina) and Anna (Elizabeth Pena) are finally getting a chance to catch up with their grown kids, all of whom have returned with some sort of issue or problem. Roxanne (Vanessa Furlito) is a struggling actress in Hollywood and is torn between her career and the comforts of home. That includes the possible love of her life, Ozzie (Jay Hernandez), who is a friend of the family but has also recently discovered that his brother’s gang-banger murderer has just been released from prison. Jesse (Freddy Rodriguez) is injured and just home from Iraq and isn’t sure if he really wants to take over the family Bodega. Businessman Mauricio (John Leguizamo) is bringing home his successful Jewish wife Sarah (Debra Messing) to a hostile mother-in-law who wants grandchildren now. To make matter worse, Anna announces that she’s divorcing their father. Can this family come together and work their problems out?
This film doesn’t stray too far away from the “Christmas family problems” formula. There are plenty of cliches sprinkled throughout and they’ve been done countless times before, and it’s mostly the same family melodrama you have come to expect from these types of movies. At least the writers don’t resort to slapstick, zany comedy to arouse laughter. Even though this is mostly a drama, there is some quality comedy. As far as the Puerto Rican elements of the film go, well it’s just the occasional Puerto Rican dish or Spanish phrase thrown around and that’s about it.
What does make Nothing Like the Holidays worth watching is the cast. Alfred Molina and Elizabeth Pena have great chemistry together and are believable as heads of this family. This is despite them not being old enough to be the parents of John Leguizamo in real life. Speaking of Leguizamo, he plays a character he has never played before, and he does it quite well. There really aren’t any complaints about the cast, except maybe Luiz Guzman trying too hard to get laughs as the wacky uncle. Unfortunately, the characters all of these actors are playing aren’t that deep. They are essentially the same stock characters we have seen before, only this time it’s a different ethnicity.
The story is fun but predictable. With a strong cast and some good laughs, Nothing Like the Holidays is watchable enough if you’re setting up the Christmas tree. But it’s nowhere near a holiday classic. It’s would be comparable to leftovers of a Christmas feast – will a little Latin flavoring to make it taste better.
Video has a 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen ratio. Decent transfer, but not demo theater material. Audio options include English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround sound or Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo sound. There are subtitles available in English and Spanish as well. Music doesn’t overpower the dialogue, letting everything sound nice and clear.
Audio Commentary –
There is a full-length audio commentary with actor/producer Freddy Rodriguez, director Alfredo De Villa, producer Robert Teitel, and for a short time actor Luis Guzman, who phones in for a brief period of time.
“Nothing Like a Family: Cast Reunion” Featurette –
This runs 12 minutes and it features Freddy Rodriguez, Debra Messing, Luis Guzman, Melonie Diaz, Vanessa Ferlito, and Jay Hernandez for a discussion of filming hijinks and cast relationships. Plenty of jokes and memories from the cast here, which can be entertaining to watch.
Bloopers –
There is 15 minutes worth of bloopers and other hijinks from the set. John Leguizamo and Luis Guzman are responsible for the most jokes as you might expect.
Nothing Like the Holidays is worth a rental if only for the strong, ensemble cast. You’ll get a few chuckles when you give this film a watch while putting another log on the fire.
Anchor Bay Home Entertainment presents Nothing Like The Holidays. Directed by Alfredo De Villa. Starring Alfred Molina, Elizabeth Peña, Freddy Rodríguez, Luis Guzmán, Jay Hernandez, John Leguizamo, Debra Messing, Vanessa Ferlito, and Melonie Diaz. Written by Alison Swan, Rick Najera, Robert Teitel, and Rene M. Rigal. Running time: 98 minutes. Rated PG-13. Released on DVD: September 27, 2009. Available at Amazon.com
