Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Thanksgiving Films

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke And The Bookish. For more info on how to participate in this weekly post or future topics click here.

For this week the topic is a movie freebie and I decided to do a top ten list of some of my favorite Thanksgiving movies. These films are either centered around the holiday or focuses on the theme of family since Thanksgiving is a time for family to gather.

Johnson Family Vacation

Synopsis: Even the on-board navigation system has a meltdown on Nate Johnson and his family’s cross-country trek to their annual family reunion/grudge match.Can the Johnson’s survive each other and all the obstacles the road throws at them to make it to Caruthersville, Missouri?

Why I love it: It’s such a silly film, and the crazy antics make this film entertaining to watch. Cedric The Entertainer is one of my favorite comedians and his presence really pulls this film together.

Addams Family Values

Synopsis: The comical Gothic horror-movie-type family tries to rescue their beloved uncle from his gold-digging new love.

Why I love it: I’ve always been a family of the Addams family films because I love the family’s weird, kooky vibe and how they always embrace it no matter what. Plus, there are a couple hilarious scenes surrounding Thanksgiving in this film.

Meet The Parents

Synopsis: Male nurse Greg Focker meets his girlfriend’s parents before proposing, but her suspicious father is every date’s worst nightmare.

Why I love it: This is one of my favorite comedic films of all time. DeNiro and Stiller make a great pair in this movie. It’s a laugh out loud film!

Houseguest

Synopsis: In hot water with the mob over an unpaid debt, a con man poses as a family friend in an affluent Pennsylvania suburb.

Why I like it: Though cheesy at times I thought the comedy in this movie was golden. Sinbad is another one of my favorite comedians and his jokes had me laughing during the whole film.

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving

Synopsis: Peppermint Patty invites herself and her friends over to Charlie Brown’s for Thanksgiving, and with Linus, Snoopy, and Woodstock, he attempts to throw together a Thanksgiving dinner.

Why I love it: So technically this is more of a TV special than a movie, but it’s an automatic add to this list. Watching Peanuts holiday specials are a tradition in my family!

Soul Food

Synopsis: Matriarch Mama Joe has held her family together for 40 years around a Sunday dinner of soul food. When diabetes hospitalizes her, the dinners stop and tensions among her three daughters start to break the family apart.

Why I love it: It’s a feel-good movie with a strong message about how family makes us strong. It also is about how family and food brings people together.

Mrs. Doubtfire

Synopsis: After a bitter divorce, an actor disguises himself as a female housekeeper to spend time with his children held in custody by his former wife.

Why I love it: My favorite Robin Williams movie of all time. It’s funny and heartwarming. The lengths that Williams’ character goes to be with his kids goes above and beyond.

Madea’s Family Reunion

Synopsis: While planning her family reunion, a pistol-packing grandma must contend with the other dramas on her plate, including the runaway who has been placed under her care, and her love-troubled nieces.

Why I love it: It’s entertaining and relatable. The film shows the drama that can sometimes overshadow a family reunion, but also reminds us that family is all we have at the end of the day.

Little Miss Sunshine

Synopsis: A family determined to get their young daughter into the finals of a beauty pageant take a cross-country trip in their VW bus.

Why I love it: Though the family portrayed in the film is quite dysfunctional they show that even after all the events of this film that they still love each other. It’s heartwarming, funny, sad, and a dramatic film.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

Synopsis: A man must struggle to travel home for Thanksgiving with an obnoxious slob of a shower curtain ring salesman as his only companion.

Why I like it: If you’re looking for a fun, laugh out loud film, I highly recommend this classic. Candy and Martin shine in this movie and the crazy situations they get into on their way home for the holidays is hilarious!

What are some of your favorite family themed or Thanksgiving movies? Comment below!

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