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Nothing Like the Holidays
Metascore
50 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 24 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 24
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 24
  3. Negative: 2 out of 24
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  1. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Christopher Borrelli
    88
    It's what we need at the holidays, and it's the modest goal of a modest little picture like this--to capture something heartfelt and real.
  2. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    75
    The performers breathe real life into the characters, starting with Elizabeth Pena and Alfred Molina.
  3. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Carrie Rickey
    75
    This unassuming and unexpectedly moving picture set in Chicago's Humboldt Park neighborhood is a sugarplum-and-sofrito affair centering on the Rodriguez household.
  4. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Ruthe Stein
    75
    Like a Christmas present you didn't know you wanted but are delighted to receive.
  5. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Lisa Schwarzbaum
    75
    The troubles are broad, the plot twists giant, and the performances cheery in this carol to ethnic pride in Chicago's traditionally Latino Humboldt Park.
  6. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Kirk Honeycutt
    70
    The situations tend toward contrivance, but the atmosphere is easygoing and the actors seem relaxed even when everyone at the family table is yelling.
  7. Variety
    Reviewed by: Brian Lowry
    70
    So "The Family Stone" becomes "The Family Rodriguez," and to their credit, the able performers wring as much mileage as they can from such familiar material.
  8. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Claudia Puig
    63
    This year's warm and fuzzy Christmas movie. It's a generally winning diversion, thanks mostly to its likeable ensemble cast.
  9. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Ty Burr
    63
    Both despite its familiarity and because of it, Nothing Like the Holidays brings it home for Christmas.
  10. ReelViews
    Reviewed by: James Berardinelli
    63
    Like fruitcake, movies like this are ubiquitous at this time of the year but rarely are they devoured with great relish or enthusiasm.
  11. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Elizabeth Weitzman
    60
    It's a formula, all right, but a strong cast goes a long way toward carrying it off. We get one, for the most part, in Alfredo De Villa's cheerfully familiar dramedy.
  12. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: Sean Axmaker
    58
    Director Alfredo De Villa doesn't play it for the kind of knockabout comedy so often seen in these films (like the shrill hit "Four Christmases").
  13. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Perry Seibert
    50
    While it is true that nothing all that original happens during the funny parts of the movie either, the family's Puerto Rican heritage gives the movie's comedy a unique spin.
  14. The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
    Reviewed by: Liam Lacey
    50
    Most of the cast range from tolerable to appealing (especially Molina and Pena), with a conspicuous exception. Debra Messing, as the career-driven outsider, is consistently stilted.
  15. Baltimore Sun
    Reviewed by: Chris Kaltenbach
    50
    Is there anyone out there who hasn't seen this movie a dozen times before? Maybe even as recently as last week, since it's basically the same story line as the funnier, if less heartfelt, "Four Christmases."
  16. Film Threat
    Reviewed by: Stina Chyn
    50
    Provides mostly entertaining spectacle.
  17. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Nick Pinkerton
    50
    The cast is appealing enough, though, and those looking for seasonal warm fuzzies can find them, as predictably touching as a muddled-through "Auld Lang Syne."
  18. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Stephen Holden
    50
    The only distinguishing characteristic of this mildly agreeable variation of a worn-out formula is that the boisterous family under examination is Puerto Rican, and the screenplay includes a smattering of Spanish.
  19. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Mike Mayo
    50
    The ensemble cast boasts some of the finest actors in the business. They do their best to breathe life into the stereotypes, but they simply don't have enough to work with.
  20. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Andrea Gronvall
    50
    My pleasure in seeing Chicago's underexposed Humboldt Park neighborhood on-screen was gradually overcome by this indie drama's cliched treatment of a dysfunctional family reunion.
  21. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Scott Tobias
    50
    Take a cue from Guzmán, who serves as a kind of court jester, bouncing in and out of scenes in a one-man quest to bring levity to the occasion. The movie could stand to have more of his Christmas cheer; instead, it's a recast "Family Stone."
  22. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Steve Davis
    40
    This overly sentimental family Christmas drama, featuring a veritable checklist of prominent Hispanic actors, falls victim to the shortcoming so prevalent in similarly ethnic-themed movies with similar casts – everything and everyone is so damn serious.
  23. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Kyle Smith
    25
    What's Spanglish for "oy"?
  24. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: John Anderson
    0
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User Reviews

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User Score
8.0 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 5 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 2
  3. Negative: 0 out of 2
  1. crodriguez
    10
    This movies was so good, reminded me of my family, there are 6 of us and when we get together it's a blast, we fight, we laugh, we dance and yes we get drunk and cry. This movie just teaches you to appreciate the time we have on this earth with family and friends. Watch it if you can.… Full Review »
  2. ChadS.
    6
    It's a bombshell, but a soft one, when Anna Rodriguez(Elizabeth Pena) announces to the family that she'll soon be leaving her husband(Alfred Molina) in the midst of their supposed golden years. It's a soft bomb because the screenwriter, in all likelihood, will prevent the marriage from actual detonation. The same crisis occurs in Woody Allen's "Interiors", this time it's the father who makes the bomb threat. Here, we sense that the bomb will go off; we know that Ingmar Bergman tropes negate any chance for reconciliation. "Nothing Like the Holidays" has no intentions of being a downer; rest assured, Anna will forgive Edy before the credits roll, because the title practically cries out "made-for-television movie", not tough-minded indie, or filmic exercise in rote Swedish formalism. "Nothing Like the Holidays" will play it safe; there's a tacit agreement between the filmmaker and his audience that the story won't venture into territory which can't be resolved. To the filmmaker's credit, "Nothing Like the Holiday" implies an edge; the filmmaker puts Edy in situations with his son's wife Sarah(Debra Messing) that is fraught with sexual tension. Given Edy's track record with women, and the advent of senior citizens popping Viagra like M & Ms, his daughter-in-law is susceptible to the male gaze, the geezer gaze, if you please, when they're together in the car, and later, in the laundry room. But there's no pass, a familial pass across generations(and also, an Iraqi war veteran(Jesse, played by Freddy Rodriguez) who's not merely depressed, but owns up to having violent impulses) would prove to be too complicated for a crowd-pleaser such as "Nothing Like the Holidays". A happy ending is imminent. And there's nothing wrong with that, per se. It's the holidays, after all.… Full Review »
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