[6]

Jodie Foster directs this universal story of holiday family togetherness, warts and all. Holly Hunter stars as a woman who travels to be with her parents for Thanksgiving after just being let go from her job. While she tries to obscure the truth from her mom and dad (Anne Bancroft and Charles Durning), she revels in the rebellious nature of her somewhat-estranged, gay brother (Robert Downey Jr.). Brother and sister lock arms, so to speak, when the turkey is ready to be cut and the third sibling, a devout Christian do-gooder (Cynthia Stevenson), arrives on the scene.

Home for the Holidays isn’t funny enough for an audience wanting a comedy, and it may be too peculiar for an audience looking for a relatable drama. It’s an odd duck, but Hunter and Downey save it for me. Hunter gives the universal (shall we say tired?) nature of the story a fresh specificity and Downey is an improvisational lightning rod of energy here. Bancroft and Durning have their moments, as does Stevenson. A whacky aunt character played by Geraldine Chaplin feels like a tacked-on, desperate attempt at humor, but Dylan McDermott is put to good use as a friend of Downey’s. Steve Guttenberg, Claire Danes, and David Strathairn also appear.