* directed and co-produced by jodie foster . written by w . d . richter . cast : holly hunter , robert downey , jr . , anne bancroft , dylan mcdermott , charles durning , geraldine chaplin , steve guttenberg , claire danes , cynthia stevenson . distributed by paramount and polygram . the title " home for the holidays " suggests either a feel-good story , a family drama or a comedy , but guesses can be wrong . there was a made-for-tv movie with that title in 1972 which turned out to be a christmastime thriller . now , the current film's distributors have announced it as a comedy , but this description will do only if you stretch it . claudia ( holly hunter ) just lost her job as an art restorer at a museum . ( you wait a long time to find out that the museum is in chicago . ) with some trepidation , claudia leaves behind her sixteen-year old daughter ( we later learn in passing that hunter is unmarried ) and flies to another state to spend thanksgiving with her parents . ( you wait a long time to find out that it is maryland . if your eyes are peeled , you might catch the sign " maryland lottery . " ) the opening sequence tries for screwball comedy style , but it is only slightly weird and far from hilarious . soon the film goes into fast decline , in a structure that is a succession of sections , each with its title . " flying " is followed by " mom and dad . " mom is anne bancroft , nee anna maria luisa italiano , one of the very few catholics who can do a jewish mother turn , which she sort of does here . perhaps husband mel brooks is of help . dad ( charles durning ) is a retired something or other employee of an airline or of the baltimore airport . ( this is made clear only at the end . ) he is a kind of putterer now . pa and ma are eccentrics , sort of , but uninteresting as individuals and as a couple . if you remember bancroft as the famously seductive mrs . robinson in 1967 the graduate , you can now see her in bra and slip . she may be showing us how well kept she is at 64 , but her talent does not show in home for the holidays . the next chapter , " company , " centers mostly around claudia's brother tommy ( robert downey , jr . ) . tommy is gay , but you can't tell . you learn it only when you hear that " he has broken with jack . " on the other hand , tommy is relentlessly gay in the old sense , ebullient , bouncy and far , far too cute . you feel right away that downey is uncomfortable in , and unconvinced by his role . he arrives from boston with leo fish ( dylan mcdermott ) whom everybody takes for a new lover . each section has claudia in it but is normally focused on one or two additional characters . in " relatives " we meet mom's unmarried sister , retired schoolteacher geraldine chaplin . she too is an eccentric , unconvincing and unconvinced . her closeups are cruel . someone flatulates . there's an in-joke : a furnace repairman works for " the big heat " company , a reference to a classic film noir . in " more relatives , " we meet claudia's younger sister joanna , her sententious husband walter ( steve guttenberg ) and their two kids . the house becomes a zoo of agitation and hyperactivity , forced and seldom funny . only the cat is normal . next , " the dinner " reveals that tommy had married jack some time ago . joanna calls tommy a freak . he keeps his good mood but overacts again . by accident , joanna gets a plateful spilled on her dress . it turns out that leo fish is heterosexual . geraldine chaplin passionately kisses dad--on the mouth . watching the slicing of the turkey , it dawned on me that this film was trying to be a slice of life . but it is also a turkey that jodie foster directed--her second effort , after little man tate . just as responsible is the uneven writer w . d . richter , whose biggest hit was the dubious buckaroo banzai . his best works were slither , nickelodeon , and the excellent remake of invasion of the body snatchers . the stephen king story he scripted before home for the holidays was the disastrous needful things . in " cleanup " claudia's daughter calls , tells mom that she is disgusted with her boyfriend and is still a virgin . tommy and walter have a fight . jack telephones tommy . tommy is happy . the marriage is on again . the movie turns " sensitive . " " now what ? " follows . here , this mish-mashy , misguided , mis-written film predictably brings together leo fish and claudia . earlier , leo was passable as a quiet observer . now that he emotes , he is artificial . the couple have a too-cute impromptu date and kiss . taking leftovers to joanna's house , the sisters have a heart-to-heart talk . says claudia : " we don't have to like each other . we're a family . " this , i guess , is the moral of the story . viewer liberation comes with " the point . " claudia and leo , by mutual consent , will not have sex as they are going in different geographic ( and other ) directions . dad watches home movies . more sentiment . the real point is that this movie is pointless . that not a single performer is explored , seems to believe in his part , plays well , is involving , that no one uses more than two basic expressions . claudia takes the return plane . who comes in but leo , with a ridiculous lamp ( don't ask ) ? he proposes that they spend the two-hour flight sitting together . perhaps they'll go to sleep . that's what the film's audience ought to do too . 
