There aren’t many good Thanksgiving movies. Come to think of it, there aren’t many movies about the holiday at all. Yeah there’s movies that include Thanksgiving as an element: these guys have to get home in time for Thanksgiving dinner, there’s a scene or two that take place on Thanksgiving, or Turkey Day is somehow involved with the first act of a Christmas movie.
There aren’t many movies about Thanksgiving aside from a few forgettable comedies, a cadre of saccharine Hallmark movies. The rest include the holiday as a background element at most. That said, there are a few movies that are standbys for a lot of people who aren’t glued to football on that particular Thursday.
Open your belt a few notches, tell yourself there’s no way you’re ready for a turkey sandwich yet, digest what is hopefully a wonderful dinner shared with loved ones, and throw one of these flicks, brought to you here in no particular order, up on the flat screen.
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973)
This TV special that originally aired on Nov. 20, 1973, was later sold on home media and repeatedly aired on the tube so much so that it became one of the very few Thanksgiving “movie” staples for many, much like the Peanuts Halloween and Christmas specials that aired in the 1960s, though with a runtime of just 25 minutes, it barely qualifies. Interest.
This special is the most focused on the holiday itself on this list, including the history of the holiday dating back to the earliest European settlers in North America and the ins-and-outs of heading to grandma’s for Thanksgiving dinner, through the eyes of children, of course. If you grew up with it, Turkey Day isn’t quite complete without Charlie Brown.
Fun Fact: Other than Lucy’s opening football gag, this is the only Peanuts special that wasn’t based on the comic strip.
Rocky (1976)
Although it might sound a little strange, the original Rocky takes place entirely over the holiday season. The big fight at the end takes place on New Year’s Day of 1976, Christmas comes and goes during Rocky’s six weeks of training for the fight, and, of course, Thanksgiving is the background for Rocky and Adrian’s first date, underhandedly arranged by her brother, Paulie. It sets the tone for the movie, with Paulie’s huge heart full of cheer and thanks:
Adrian: “It’s Thanksgiving, I got a turkey in the oven.”
Paulie: “Oh, a turkey in the oven. Oh. You want the bird? (as he drags the turkey out of the oven, rips off an underdone leg, and throws the rest of it out the back door) Go in the alley and eat the bird!”
Okay so maybe it’s not the warmest and fuzziest “Thanksgiving movie,” but for anyone who identifies the holidays with winter in the Northeast, this one will get you in the mood.
Of course, Rocky makes everything right with his kind of ham-fisted first-date destination of a closed skating rink on Thanksgiving night.
Movie Fact: Originally, the skating scene was supposed to be full of extras populating a very much open and operating ice rink, but the production was running low on money, and the filmmakers sacrificed a rink full of extras for a lone, surly Zamboni driver: a tweak that made the scene far more memorable.
Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)
It’s a classic John Hughes comedy, and with the entire plot revolving around advertising…uh…executive? Sure. Around advertising executive Neal Page’s (Steve Martin) arduous struggle to get home to Chicago from a business trip to New York City that he has to share with nerve-wracking companion Del Griffith (John Candy) in time for Thanksgiving dinner. And everything goes wrong.
This movie was funny when you were a kid, but if you’re now an adult who has traveled for work at any point in your life, this one hits way harder than it used to. And if you're watching this one with kids, beware the rental car counter scene.
While we only see a few minutes of Thanksgiving at the end of this one, it definitely counts. Plus, it has a happy ending that’s a bit sad with a lot of heart.
Movie Fact: Originally, there was as subplot filmed about Neal’s wife, Susan (Laila Robins), suspecting that Neal was having an affair, which is why she is so extra anxious about his delayed return and why she’s so happy so see Del when he does, because his existence proves Neal isn’t running around on her.
Grumpy Old Men (1993)
Two of the old-school masters of comedic timing and the OG Odd Couple, the late, great Jack Lemmon and Walter Mathau, teamed up once more for this holiday gem from the 1990s. Grumpy Old Men is another movie that, like Rocky, covers much of the holiday season, though it skips New Year’s and jumps right to spring at the end.
This is some light-hearted fare for the whole family with old men hurling sweet zingers at each other with that Zemeckis-like shimmer that lets you feel the weight of lives lived, a decades-long love-hate friendship, familial struggles and secrets, and even money troubles. Out of the movies on this list, this one might spend the most actual screentime on Thanksgiving itself.
Plus, it’s one of the damn few movies that’s also kind of about ice fishing — at least a little. Fun Fact: Although they had teamed up numerous times in the past, Lemmon and Matthau hadn’t made a film together in about a decade when GOM was released. It was a surprise box office success, leading the duo to make a sequel (Grumpier Old Men), another buddy comedy (Out to Sea), and a sequel to their most famous team-up, The Odd Couple II.
Dutch (1991)
This movie has a bit of an odd comedic tone, but for some, it’s a classic. Dutch is what you get if you take Ed O’Neil and a super young Ethan Embry and throw them in a blender with the plots of Stallone’s Over the Top (1987) and Planes, Trains and Automobiles.
O’Neil plays a working-class dude who, good-heartedly, volunteers to pick up his girlfriend’s son, Doyle (Embry) from his fancy prep school and bring him home to Chicago for Thanksgiving. Sound familiar?
The only problem? Like the kid in Over the Top, Doyle is a complete dick. Their journey is fraught with misfortune and peril, some due to clashes between the two. Of course, by the end, there grows a reluctant respect between the two, and Doyle gets a crash course in street smarts during his odyssey road trip with Al Bundy.
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