‘Nothing Like the Holidays’ delivers drama with its cheer

There is nothing like the holidays for movies like “Nothing Like the Holidays,“ stories about families reuniting with plenty of laughter and just a few tears.

Sometimes, they’re enough to make you gag. But “Nothing Like the Holidays” is better than most.

The setting is Chicago, in the winter, and there is no doubt it was filmed in Chicago in the winter. The grown-up children of the Rodriguez family are coming back to the old house for Christmas with their parents, Puerto Rican food, arguments, love and the occasional shot of tequila.

Movies such as this try to balance the comedy with drama, and “Nothing Like the Holidays” leans a little to the drama side. Every character has a secret or an issue that needs to be revealed or addressed.

Mother Anna (Elizabeth Peña) announces she wants a divorce from her husband, which sets the festivities off on a sour note. The father, Edy (Alfred Molina), keeps taking secret phone calls that Anna thinks are from a lover, which is why she wants to end the marriage. Jesse (Freddy Rodríguez), just back from Iraq, is haunted by memories of a friend who was killed.

Mauricio (John Leguizamo) and his Jewish wife, Sarah (Debra Messing), are on the fast track in New York, too busy to have children. Roxanna (Vanessa Ferlito) isn’t as successful an actress as everyone thinks. And Johnny (Luis Guzmán), who appears to be a nephew, may or may not be gay.

All of these issues will be resolved neatly in an hour and a half, although some of the resolutions will be bittersweet.

At one point, Edy—the father—decides he wants to cut down an old and gnarled tree in front of the house, a tree we originally think represents the family but actually represents Edy himself. He and his sons try to take a chainsaw to it without apparent knowledge of how to remove a tree.

The acting is strong—even Leguizamo isn’t painful to watch—and the script by Alison Swan and Rick Najera is warm and heartfelt. Alfredo de Villa’s direction captures the highs and lows of family.

“Nothing Like the Holidays” works so well because it is made with love.

Contact Daniel Neman at (804) 649-6408 or