Rating: PG-13
Movie Release Date: December 12, 2008
DVD Release Date: October 27, 2009
Plot 411: A Puerto Rican family spends the holidays together and emotions run high for all of them.
Review: Jesse (Freddy Rodriguez) returns home to Chicago after serving in Iraq as a Marine. It's obvious he is experiencing a little PTSD, and we learn later that this is partly because one of the men in his unit died. His father (Alfred Molina) owns a bodega, which he expects Jesse to run one day, and his mother (Elizabeth Pena) is at home cooking a holiday meal. Also arriving for the festivities is his sister Roxanna (Vanessa Ferlito), his brother Mauricio (John Leguizamo) and sister-in-law Sarah (Debra Messing). In everyone's eyes, Roxanna is a Hollywood starlet who living in California and works in show biz. In reality, she is a struggling actress like many others. Mauricio and Sarah are both career driven and succeeding in their perspective jobs. To the dismay of his mother, Mauricio has not produced a grandchild and this is a source of many disagreements between him and his wife. At the holiday dinner, their mother announces that she plans to divorce their father because she suspects he has been unfaithful. When he doesn't deny the charges, this causes an uproar that threatens to tear the family apart. I didn't know a thing about this movie and had assumed it'd be a romantic comedy. Boy, was I wrong. This was, instead, a family drama with some serious themes. However, many of them just failed to strike a chord with the audience. The characters weren't really unique and drew no sympathy from me. I didn't feel compelled by any of their stories. A lot of the scenes felt stilted and the characters didn't seem to relate well to one another. The movie tried its best to be the Latin version of This Christmas but I think it failed miserably.
Watch It: If, perhaps, you're interested in seeing just how old Debra Messing seems to have become.
Skip It: If you're looking for a good holiday movie about family. Instead, pick up This Christmas.
Movie Release Date: December 12, 2008
DVD Release Date: October 27, 2009
Plot 411: A Puerto Rican family spends the holidays together and emotions run high for all of them.
Review: Jesse (Freddy Rodriguez) returns home to Chicago after serving in Iraq as a Marine. It's obvious he is experiencing a little PTSD, and we learn later that this is partly because one of the men in his unit died. His father (Alfred Molina) owns a bodega, which he expects Jesse to run one day, and his mother (Elizabeth Pena) is at home cooking a holiday meal. Also arriving for the festivities is his sister Roxanna (Vanessa Ferlito), his brother Mauricio (John Leguizamo) and sister-in-law Sarah (Debra Messing). In everyone's eyes, Roxanna is a Hollywood starlet who living in California and works in show biz. In reality, she is a struggling actress like many others. Mauricio and Sarah are both career driven and succeeding in their perspective jobs. To the dismay of his mother, Mauricio has not produced a grandchild and this is a source of many disagreements between him and his wife. At the holiday dinner, their mother announces that she plans to divorce their father because she suspects he has been unfaithful. When he doesn't deny the charges, this causes an uproar that threatens to tear the family apart. I didn't know a thing about this movie and had assumed it'd be a romantic comedy. Boy, was I wrong. This was, instead, a family drama with some serious themes. However, many of them just failed to strike a chord with the audience. The characters weren't really unique and drew no sympathy from me. I didn't feel compelled by any of their stories. A lot of the scenes felt stilted and the characters didn't seem to relate well to one another. The movie tried its best to be the Latin version of This Christmas but I think it failed miserably.
Watch It: If, perhaps, you're interested in seeing just how old Debra Messing seems to have become.
Skip It: If you're looking for a good holiday movie about family. Instead, pick up This Christmas.
