Nothing Like the Holidays 2008

Ben Mankiewicz, At the Movies: Harmless, predictable, contrived -- if those are the best things you can say about a movie I think you should definitely skip it. Read more

Christopher Borrelli, Chicago Tribune: It's the modest goal of a modest little picture like this--to capture something heartfelt and real, finding anyone doing anything and meaning it, regardless of how patently false the situation seems. Read more

Andrea Gronvall, Chicago Reader: The cast, including Luis Guzman and Jay Hernandez, is strong and attractive but ultimately hamstrung by artificial situations and a hackneyed ending. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: Familiarity is part of the pleasure of holiday movies, and Nothing Like the Holidays gets by not on originality, but on chemistry and warmhearted charm. Read more

Scott Tobias, AV Club: There's no shortage of warmth in Nothing Like The Holidays. It also features no shortage of cliches. Read more

Kerry Lengel, Arizona Republic: Nothing Like the Holidays is vaguely unsatisfying, caught somewhere in the middle between popcorn flick and serious cinema. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: The movie's not really interested in originality, though. Instead, it wants to wrap the old seasonal homilies in the warm specifics of time and place and ethnicity. At that, it succeeds. Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: Beyond the movie's seasonal familiarities of resentment and reconciliation are plenty of sweet-funny details of Latino life. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: It's the latest entry in the dysfunctional family holiday genre... that dark blossoming group of films that remind us how thoroughly messed up life is even at special times before concluding that family makes it all worthwhile. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: 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. Read more

Jake Coyle, Associated Press: The roles are paper thin, which is too bad considering the talent of the cast. They have all been better. Molina and Leguizamo, in particular, deserve better material. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: The whole thing's a little like the meals it spotlights. You know, while you're guiltily indulging, that it's no good for you. But that doesn't keep you from feeling full afterward. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: Sometimes it's fun to unwrap a present even if you already know what's waiting inside. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: 'God is punishing me,' says the matriarch. Not just you. Read more

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: There's nothing new under the mistletoe in this warm but generic family-stressing-for-the-holidays dramedy. Read more

Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer: If the conflicts feel warmed over and the resolutions obvious, the performances, particularly those of Rodriguez, Ferlito, Messing and Pena, are so warm and winning that director Alfredo De Villa makes it a tasty entertainment. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Like fruitcake, movies like this are ubiquitous at this time of the year but rarely are they devoured with great relish or enthusiasm. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: To a necessary degree the screenplay by Alison Swan and Rick Najera follows familiar formulas. But then the dialogue, the specifics, and the acting take charge, and the movie becomes funny, sad, corny, romantic, heartfelt, all when it needs to be. Read more

Ruthe Stein, San Francisco Chronicle: With help from a lively cast and a twist on the formula, it seems fresh and enticing -- like a Christmas present you didn't know you wanted but are delighted to receive. Read more

Christy DeSmith, Minneapolis Star Tribune: The Rodriguezes are dealing with divorce, a war injury, cancer and even Christmas, but these setbacks are all played for jokes. Read more

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: Ay Caramba, the holiday season can be difficult enough, but think how much worse it would be if you lived in a family full of movie stereotypes? Read more

Linda Barnard, Toronto Star: While there may well be nothing like the holidays, there's a lot that is dully familiar about the movie of the same name. Read more

Ben Kenigsberg, Time Out: Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: Though the turf is well-traveled, the characters' camaraderie and their palpable sense of ethnic pride trumps the predictability and makes for a tale that is pleasantly appealing. Read more

Brian Lowry, Variety: After getting past the awful title, which evokes images of madcap Christmas mayhem, Nothing Like the Holidays proves a mildly efficient holiday stocking-stuffer, albeit one whose one truly distinctive characteristic is its predominantly Hispanic cast. Read more

Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice: Spruce with superficial ethnic color -- as opposed to intimacy with a specific social reality -- and you've got yourself a real niche-filler. Read more

Mike Mayo, Washington Post: 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. Read more