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 games or parades.
Still, I think it’s time to spotlight a few pretty great Thanksgiving movies. Not just for those of us who prefer cinema to sports, but also for those of us who 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 choice for people of a certain generation. 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, the wonderful Steve Martin, and a talkative but affable salesman, John Candy, as they embark upon a very circuitous journey from New York to Chicago, by way of Kansas and a few other states, to make it home for Thanksgiving. It remains endlessly quotable—“Our speedometer has melted, and as a result, it’s very hard to see with any degree of accuracy exactly how fast we were going”—and genuinely heartwarming. It’s also a reminder that the holiday isn’t about Pilgrims as much as it is a celebration of the people we love and choose to share our lives with.
Knives Out — While not specifically set on Thanksgiving, Knives Out is still the perfect viewing antidote for those of us who have complicated relationships with our families. From writer/director Rian Johnson, this movie is a classic cinematic throwback to detectives like Marple, Poirot and Holmes. It’s 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 nostalgic.
Fantastic Mr. Fox — This film also isn’t necessarily set on Thanksgiving, but with the autumn leaves filling almost every frame and its focus on community, food and families both fond and otherwise, it’s not only the perfect film for kids to watch on this holiday, but grown-ups will find their eyes getting awfully moist as well. What on the surface seems like a simple story about securing food for the winter plays quite differently at a time when food security is in question. Big-hearted, warmly optimistic and filled to the brim with calls for goodness and charity, Fantastic Mr. Fox should be canonized as the Thanksgiving movie closest to the spirit of the holiday.
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 chemistry I’m not sure any actors have achieved since, Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan are so effortlessly charming and dreamy it’s hard not to fall in love with them, too. Even if some of the story points feel a little sexist now, the film is still the equivalent of a rich dessert shared with a special someone.
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 Thanksgiving dinner given that food has never 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.
My own go-to movie for Thanksgiving is Fellowship of the Ring. Why? Two reasons: 1) It’s the coziest movie ever made. The Shire is all vibes and I want them religiously. 2) Hearing Samwise Gamgee exclaim, “Po-ta-toes! Boil ’em, mash ’em, stick ’em in a stew!” makes me hungry, happy and full of thanks.
Jared Rasic lives in Bend, Oregon.
