And I'd probably knock half of your choices off my list!
Every year I mention the following overlooked film, in hopes
that someone else will watch it and give me their opinion, but
it hasn't happened yet!
Although there are dozens of Christmas themed films that
Hollywood has made, there are very few that take Thanksgiving
under their wing, although a couple have a Thanksgiving scene
or two like our own favorite, Brokeback Mountain.
With the Thanksgiving holiday upcoming, I would like to recommend
a trip to the rental store or a netflix suggestion for this year's viewing.
It's a film called WHAT'S COOKING? It takes place on Thanksgiving
Day in Los Angeles and deals with four different families--Asian,
Latino, Jewish, and African-American, and their unrelated lives, or
so it seems. There's a side of politics, WASPs, and LGBT
friendliness thrown in for good measure and a whole lot of food to
tantalize your tastebuds. In fact, the dvd has a section of recipes
used in the film!
The "women" are the stars of the film--Joan Chen, Julianna Margulies,
Mercedes Ruehl, Kyra Sedgwick, Alfre Woodard, Estelle Harris and Lainie
Kazan, but you have to have some men around to argue with on the holiday,
so A Martinez and Dennis Haysbert, among others, are there for support!
It was directed by Gurinder Chadha, whose most famous effort is probably
her Bend It Like Beckham film which forced, I mean introduced, Keira
Knightley upon us.
The plot of the film can be summed up in the film's tagline:
Families. Fights. Feasts.A poster on IMDB described the film thusly:
"Funny, charming, poignant,
and completely entertaining throughout.... a very talented ensemble
cast...some surprises in the story. This is, I think, a holiday classic.
I look forward to seeing it again and again."I concur!
P.S.: The dvd in the U.K. has a rather amusing cover:
Author
