Marketic It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

Curapedi I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Murphy Howard I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Aubrey Hackett While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

museumofdave Some reviewers find this film not typical cheery holiday fare, comparing it to what they viewed as a happy Christmas film--It's A Wonderful Life--which, while a Christmas classic, could hardly be thought of as mindlessly cheerful, dealing as it does with the leading character's possible suicide and the likelihood of a divided town becoming a Potterville--where Lionel Barrymore and his bank win all the chips. Sure, the Capra tale has a happy ending, but the grim possibility of the little people losing their beloved homes to the banks seems a little prophetic in light of contemporary political gridlock and the foreclosure scandal. Its A Wonderful Life Is a fairy tale. A nice one, but a fairy tale. Nothing Like The Holidays is not. This little drama, hardly a comedy, is not typically mindless holiday fare, but an enjoyable watch, zeroing in on the problems that accumulate when a son returns at Christmas from Iraq to a family where his parents are considering divorce, a sister unable to make it as an actress, and a brother whose values seem to contrast with the Puerto Rican roots of his family. With Freddy Rodriguez, Alfred Molina, Debra Messing and John Leguziamo all giving strong and likable central performances, and a script that holds the attention from start to finish, this is probably a more accurate portrayal of the way families spend their Christmas today--the good and the bad things that happen when folks get together hoping for the best but knowing that there are ghosts in the closets that may slip out now and then--and while no masterpiece, the 98 minutes seem to be an honest reflection that perhaps will comfort those of us not living a fairy tale.

Kenny Buchholz The acting was most certainly the one take away that rescues this film from what might be well deserved obscurity. A well put together ensemble of actors and characters that delivers an all too mediocre story in both a dull narrative and a stereotypical setting.It feels like the producers got together with the writers and tried to inject as many stereotypical, yet bland, conflicts into one story as possible, and then for the coup de grace, leave as much as possible completely unresolved.Returning "war hero" whose status as hero is a murky as would be expected; struggling actress trying to figure out what she really wants; ex-gang member trying to 'go straight' in spite of continued pressures to return to his 'old ways'; having children vs. striving towards success; infidelity; cancer; divorce; lost love; unrequited love; humorous cousin; close knit PR Latino community ...The list of these trite stereotyped characters and situations never seems to end, and in the end, it seems like it has left very little room for any real character or story to develop.It isn't a bad film, but it is by and far a long way off from being a good film.

Ed Uyeshima If you can envision mixing Thomas Bezucha's "The Family Stone" (2005) with Lin-Manuel Miranda's "In the Heights" (still running on Broadway), you will get a rough idea of what this 2008 family drama is all about. It's refreshing to see a holiday feature focused on the vibrancy of the Hispanic community, and director Alfredo De Villa does an energetic job celebrating the ethnicity found in Chicago's Puerto Rican-dominated Humboldt Park neighborhood. However, he gets little help from the by-the-numbers screenplay by Rick Najera and Alison Swan, which is mired in clichés and stock characters. The story works strictly within predictable convention by using a Christmas family reunion as an excuse for melodramatic revelations and confrontations among its members.The plot elements are laid on thick. The Rodriguez family is headed by jovial bodega owner Edy, whose recently secretive behavior has convinced his hot-tempered wife Emma that he is having an affair. She unceremoniously announces at the family dinner table that she wants to file for a divorce. Oldest son Mauricio has become a smug, rather insufferable New Yorker and brings with him his high-powered wife Sarah, an uptight gringo on the verge of managing her own $300 million hedge fund. Much to Emma's chagrin, they have decided to put off having children to focus on their careers. Looking battle-weary and acting disengaged, younger son Jesse has just come home from a tour of duty in Iraq to find his ex-girlfriend settled down with another man. Daughter Roxanna is a struggling actress in LA whom the neighborhood thinks is going to be the next big star. Her life gets complicated by a budding romance with ex-gang member Ozzy, who is tormented by the shooting death of his brother. And as if it isn't obvious, an old, ugly tree in the Rodriguez front yard stands as a symbol of the family's solidarity.All the characters are sketched in broad strokes rather than developed with nuance, so the film feels more suitable as a TBS TV show. Nonetheless, the cast is likable and sometimes a bit more when given the chance. Alfred Molina ("Spider-Man 2"), a Brit of Spanish-Italian ancestry, has mastered a diverse array of ethnic roles in his career and plays Edy with convincing Latino flavor. Elizabeth Peña ("Lone Star") is a welcome sight as Emma. A surprisingly restrained John Leguizamo ("Moulin Rouge!") plays Mauricio, and an unsurprising Debra Messing ("Will and Grace") plays to type as Sarah. Effective albeit limited work comes from Vanessa Ferlito ("Grindhouse") as Roxana, Jay Hernandez ("World Trade Center") as Ozzy, and Luis Guzmán providing comic relief as a jokester cousin obsessed with his hair. The film's best performance comes from Freddy Rodriguez (Federico in "Six Feet Under") who realistically conveys Jesse's pain with a minimum of help from the trite script. Paul Oakenfold contributes the percolating soundtrack. The 200 DVD offers an entertaining commentary track from De Villa, Rodriguez, and producer Robert Teitel; a 12-minute featurette that reunites some of the cast members to discuss the making of the film; the original theatrical trailer; and the inescapable blooper reel.

tommy61986-1 finally a movie is made about my home place in chicago.i was born and rise in humbolt park until left for puerto rico in 2002..the movie was wonderful,only two soft part..the Christmas neighborhood gathering singing thru out the area is long history but it was a touch..the part of a brother's revenge against a gang member is too soft.gangs don't go to soft in humbolt park..yes,puerto rican family are nice in humbolt park back in the old days but as violent took over in the mid 70's puerto rican are not as nicely as this movie show..but it's nice that humbolt park was done in a nice and lovely way and kept the violent ways that it is today..in just like the other ricans movie,i like it like that..that also make the puerto rican a group of people with heart and let's not forget west side story'' nothing like the holiday bring a lot of joys and tears into eyes as i see my homeplace turn into a romance,comedy and heart warm and the traditional puerto rican food in west chicago...i give it a 9 for showing the whole world how great we are in a very hard place to be happy..