Review of Nothing Like the Holidays (2008) by Jesus H — 19 Jun 2010

"Nothing Like The Holidays" was a pretty entertaining movie, but because I've seen this plot so many times, It becomes a tossup, as well as a film that is nothing special, and something that I will never see again.

It's that type of movie where the whole family get's together for Christmas, except this time the family is Puerto Rican. That's probably the only difference compared the wide variety of other films that are almost exactly the same. The whole family is filled with different personalities. The father, the mother, the soldier, the business guy, the actress, what have you. The premise is nothing original, but if you wanted originality, you probably wouldn't have watched this movie in the first place.

So we know that the plot is not what made this movie entertaining. What made this movie slightly enjoyable to watch, was some of the decent acting of some of the actors. Personally, I think that John Leguizamo, and Alfred Molina were the only two people who held this film together. If it wasn't for these guys, this movie would have been horrible without a doubt, so props to them. Anyway...these two actors allow a chemistry between other actors which make the movie fun, and sometimes funny.

I guess the film had an alright execution when it came to acting, and some of the cinematography is good as well. Landscape shots are fun to look at, and this mixed with the snow, makes you feel right at home.

There were only a few things that I liked about this movie, and I just named them all. Besides the alright acting and cinematography, this movie is just more of what I have already seen. What's interesting about this specific plot, is that it never really get's old, so it's fun to watch, so thats why these movies are constantly being pumped out. But what this movie lacked was originality, a little better acting, and just...I don't know...I felt like there was just a missing peace to this movie. Either that...or it was as good as it could have been. Who knows..all I know is "Nothing Like The Holidays" kept me entertained I guess....but it's a movie where I was kind of relieved when the credits rolled.