History between people is an amazing thing. It bridges differences, resentment, and is most, if not all, of the reason people rely on to dislike someone. Enough history offers familiarity and unspoken trust. History is one of the few things that makes family so unique – parents aside, everyone in the family unit has known each other their entire lives. For the most part, this experience is binding in ways that relationships-of-choice can never be. As such, the family unit can overcome almost any obstacle and heal itself after almost any tragedy. Nothing Like the Holidays captures this aspect of family perfectly. While the particulars won’t necessarily match the personal experience of every viewer, it’s the essence that everyone will relate to.

The Rodriguez family is large and spread out across the United States and, in one case, even farther. As such, the parents (Alfred Molina and Elizabeth Peña) don’t get to see their three kids, Jesse (Freddy Rodriguez), Mauricio (John Leguizamo) and Roxanna (Vanessa Ferlito) as often as they would like. This Christmas, however, the entire family is getting together for the holidays. Things become complicated with Mauricio bringing his non-Puerto Rican wife, Jesse, recently returned from Iraq, and Vanessa, who is considering giving up her struggling Hollywood acting career. Throw in suspicions that the father is having an affair and his wife wants a divorce, and you have all the complications that most families have to endure, albeit usually not in one evening.

Nothing Like the Holidays is ambitious. It features a large cast, with each member dealing with their own complex and multi-layered challenges. The danger here is dealing with each subplot unfairly and not devoting enough screen-time to truly resolve the conflict. On the other end, there’s also the danger of making too long of a movie. Surprisingly, Nothing Like the Holidays was edited perfectly, giving viewers a satisfying amount of resolution while keeping the film at an average running-time. Scenes move along at a nice pace and do a wonderful job of disguising the movie formula. In fact, there are a few seemingly extraneous scenes that don’t necessarily move the plot forward or give more insight into the characters, but they’re great to watch anyway and really help develop the family unit.

All the actors do a fine job, but no one in particular stands out. To be honest, the main player here is the family unit, and it comes off completely believable. Parents argue, the kids get together for a clandestine state-of-the-family meeting, and everyone puts on a calm face for any outsiders. Anyone who has brought home a date of a different ethnicity will immediately recognize the subtle disdain exuding from the mother. The nuances of family are there and are as real as anything anyone would experience in real life.

The writing is also very strong, and the writers miraculously wrote scenes that most families can relate to, even though the Rodriguez family is Puerto Rican. The writing is so believable that it’s easy to assume they culled ideas from their own family experiences. Thankfully, they resisted the temptation to include inside jokes and instead relied on the natural comedy inherent among people who have known each other for too long.

Nothing Like the Holidays is one of the best “feel good” movies to come out in a while. There’s nothing cynical about it, yet it feels undeniably real. It’s not perfect by any means, but it’s definitely a film anyone and everyone can enjoy with their own family.

Blu-ray Special Features:

Disc 1

Nothing Like a Family: Cast Reunion
Audio Commentary with Actor/Producer Freddy Rodriguez, Director Alfredo De Villa and Producer Robert Teitel
Picture-in-Picture Insider Exclusive with the Cast
Bloopers
Theatrical Trailer

Disc 2

Digital Copy of Nothing Like the Holidays for Portable Media Players