We don’t normally get very “into” the winter holidays, but there are exactly two movies that I watch every year.
Before I share which movies they are, I want to make sure anyone reading understands that, while my family does celebrate and observe Christmas, we don’t typically make a point of making everything feel magically seasonal. I appreciate a modestly-sized tree, some twinkly lights, excellent food with the family—none of whom should have to work, preferably—on Christmas Day, and maybe a small gift or two. And quite frankly, even the gifts are optional most years. Because why does it always seem like everybody’s money situation gets complicated in December? What is that even about?
Also, when did the holidays start the day after Halloween? I’m not trying to yuck anyone’s yum here (because really, you do you, boo!), but we have never so much as hummed that Mariah Carey song until after Thanksgiving. We are a family of people who love to eat, so we need to give Thanksgiving its due first.
But November has come and gone, so it’s finally time for us to break out the holiday cheer with the rest of the class. Not only can you find that Mariah song on my brand-new Christmas Jams playlist, but I’m also going to fill you in on the only two films I feel the urge to watch every single holiday season. One is usually considered a very beloved holiday romcom, while the other is… Not. But I have my reasons, so stick with me.
The Family Stone
Okay, so this movie is very hated by critics, and to be fair, a good amount of the vitriol is justified. Specifically, the elements about Tyrone Giordano and Sarah Jessica Parker’s characters that are outlined in this review by Stereogum. However, there are a lot of good things and some emotional aspects of the movie that I think I mostly recognize from experience with my own quirky family. That alone helps it land on a soft, mushy part of my heart, but the fact that it has an all-star cast, many of whom I really like and who I think dialed in a decent performance, certainly helps matters.
For those who haven’t seen it, The Family Stone was released in 2005 and stars Diane Keaton, Craig T. Nelson, Dermot Mulroney, Luke Wilson, Claire Danes, Rachel McAdams, Elizabeth Reaser, and the previously mentioned Tyrone Giordano and Sarah Jessica Parker. The plot revolves around parents Sybil (Keaton) and Kelly (Nelson) and their five adult children, Everett (Mulroney), Ben (Wilson), Susannah (Reaser), Thad (Giordano), and Amy (McAdams), all of whom are gathering in their New England hometown to celebrate the Christmas holiday with each other. Everett, however, is bringing his uptight girlfriend Meredith (Parker) home for the first time, and things get heated when she fails to live up to the family’s expectations. Things get so intense, in fact, that she later calls her sister, Julie (Danes), to join the fray in a last-ditch effort to receive the support she isn’t getting from Everett.
Everett eventually finds himself falling in love with Julie, rather than Meredith, whom he had initially planned to propose to. Everything shakes out okay in the end, though, because his kooky brother Ben also has an unlikely attraction to Meredith. Everything culminates in a big slap fight showdown with Everett and Ben, and most of the ladies on the kitchen floor covered in Christmas morning breakfast strata (which sounds delish, by the way).
It is basically the typical Christmas romcom you might expect to see on the Hallmark Channel, but instead, it had a theatrical release and starred actual A-list actors. And truth be told, I’m not at all the kind of person who enjoys Hallmark Christmas movies. Especially bad ones, which this movie would no doubt categorically qualify as, to most film reviewers. But there are a few reasons why I love it.
The family dynamic reminds me a lot of my own. My own siblings and I have a relationship not unlike the trio of Everett, Ben, and Amy, standing at the bottom of the stairs, smacking each other over the head for some reason or another. My mother was also the second-born of six siblings, most of whom had children, and many of those children have children now. For many, many years, we spent our holidays surrounded by aunts, uncles, and literally countless amounts of cousins. Which is fun until it isn’t. There was a lot of drama some years, some of which I would have traded for a slap fight instead. Truthfully, we probably did have a slap fight or two. But there are also core memories that I made with my family during these holidays. Memories that I wouldn’t trade for anything.
Sybil’s untimely passing toward the end of the movie hits a little close to home, too. The breast cancer she once survived has returned, and there’s no treating it this time. Cancer has impacted my family more times than I like to try keeping track of, especially regarding my own Christmas-loving mother. But I’m a weird dude, and sometimes, consuming sad or painful things in pop culture makes me actually feel a little bit better. Like, somehow, if I look things directly in the eye, they don’t feel quite as threatening. It feels cathartic in a messed-up kinda way, I guess. It’ll feel doubly so this year after Diane Keaton’s own real-life passing.
The movie may be poorly written, but I love that it’s Christmas. I love that it’s family. And I love that I can see my own mother in it. I don’t really think you need much more.
Love Actually
Although this 2003 film is the better of the two, I feel like I won’t need to write nearly as much about it here, because it’s already one that is pretty well-regarded by critics. And this time, I can’t really argue with the critics. I find that it’s a very well-done British romcom set during the holiday season. I think that the film largely found success because it also features a large ensemble comprised of big names, but the connected story also shines by being simultaneously emotional and lighthearted.
Set in the United Kingdom, Love Actually begins with a narration by Hugh Grant’s character, explaining that whenever he gets stressed out or depressed by the crazy world we live in, he likes to think about the arrivals gate at the airport. There, one can typically find friends, families, significant others, etc., waiting to embrace their loved ones getting off a flight. The movie then begins by telling several different types of “love” stories.
In my opinion, the reason these separate but interconnected stories work so cohesively is because of their ability to display different definitions of the word love. For example, the love between two longtime friends is illustrated in the story between aging rockstar Billy Mack (Bill Nighy) and his manager Joe (Gregor Fisher). The feeling of unrequited love is showcased most effectively in the story involving Mark (Andrew Lincoln) and his feelings for Juliet (Keira Knightley), who has just married Mark’s best friend Peter (Chiwetel Ejiofor). A childhood crush is played out between Sam (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) and Joanna (Olivia Olson), while Sam’s step-dad, Daniel (Liam Neeson), is mourning the death of his wife. Grant’s character, David, is the new Prime Minister who develops feelings for a junior member of his staff, Natalie (Martine McCutcheon). Numerous other prominent stories emerge as the movie carries on during the Christmas season, with each linked in some way to the others.
Except for the storyline involving Harry (Alan Rickman) and Karen (Emma Thompson), all of Love Actually‘s plot points wrap themselves up in a nice little bow by the end of the film. It’s something of a seasonal warm hug that I just like to take in before the holiday season is over. Kinda like how you gotta have that one peppermint mocha or cup of nog to really feel like it’s the season—it just doesn’t feel right without it. And I think the fact that Thomas Brodie-Sangster and Martine McCutcheon recently appeared in a Love Actually-themed commercial for the Google Pixel is evidence enough that it’s a widely shared sentiment!
It doesn’t matter how you love someone. It just matters that you do.
So there you have it… The two movies that I watch every holiday season. Mostly because I’m not into the “classics” the way that some folks are, and also because of all the reasons I stated above.
What holiday movies are on your must-watch list? Let me know, and maybe, just maybe, I’ll give it a view myself this year!
Happy Holidays! 🎄💖
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