What better way to celebrate the holidays with your family than a good old-fashioned movie night – and these are the best Thanksgiving movies around!
These movies aren’t all about getting stuffed with turkey or about the familial meltdowns that happen at so many turkey dinner gatherings.
Enjoy the crazy movies as well as the sappy one.
My personal favorite? Planes, Trains and Automobiles. I have to watch it every Thanksgiving!
This post contains affiliate links.
10 Best Thanksgiving Movies
Planes, Trains And Automobiles
Neal Page is an advertising executive who just wants to fly home to Chicago to spend Thanksgiving with his family.
But all Neal Page gets is misery. Misery named Del Griffith — a loud mouthed, but nevertheless lovable, salesman who leads Neal on a cross-country, wild goose chase that keeps Neal from tasting his turkey.
Ed O’Neill of “Modern Family” stars as Dutch Dooley, a working-class good guy who’s the new boyfriend of a wealthy big shot’s ex-wife.
When the woman’s spoiled son (Ethan Randall of Can’t Hardly Wait and Sweet Home Alabama in one of his first film roles) refuses to come home from his Southern prep school for Thanksgiving, Dutch volunteers to pick the bratty boy up for a road trip back to Chicago that quickly goes hilariously wrong.
Winner of three Oscar’s, the eldest daughter of show-biz parents, Hannah (Mia Farrow) is a devoted wife, loving mother and successful actress.
A loyal supporter of her two aimless sisters Lee (Barbara Hershey) and Holly (Dianne Wiest), she’s also the emotional backbone of a family that seems to resent her stability almost as much as they depend on it.
But when Hannahs perfect world is quietly sabotaged by sibling rivalry, she finally begins to see that she’s as lost as everyone else, and in order to find herself, she’ll have to choose between the independence her family can’t live with and the family she can’t live without.
Pieces of April
Rebellious daughter April Burns (Holmes) has offered to host an elaborate Thanksgiving dinner for her suburban clan in her grubby Lower East Side apartment.
Her attempts to create an unforgettable feast go awry when she discovers that her oven doesn’t work. Now, as her weary family makes its way to the city, April must rely on the kindness of strangers to pull off the perfect meal and the perfect memory.
The House of Yes
All Marty (Josh Hamilton) wants is a regular life, but nothing goes as planned when he brings his fiancé, Lesly (Tori Spelling), to meet his far-from-normal family.
His beautiful but crazy twin sister, Jackie-O (Parker Posey)—who is strangely attached to Marty—becomes dangerously jealous of his new love.
Meanwhile, their younger brother, Anthony (Freddie Prinze, Jr.), puts the moves on Lesly the first chance he gets.
As their visit spins wildly out of control, Marty and Lesly realize that his mother (Geneviève Bujold) may be able to hide the kitchen knives, but she can’t hide the family’s shocking secrets.
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving
Peppermint Patty invites herself and her friends over to Charlie Brown’s for Thanksgiving, and with Linus, Snoopy, and Woodstock, he attempts to throw together a Thanksgiving dinner.
Scent of a Woman
Al Pacino won his first “Best Actor” Oscar for his brilliant portrayal of an overbearing, blind retired Lieutenant Colonel who hires a young guardian (Chris O’Donnell), to assist him over Thanksgiving weekend.
It’s a heart-wrenching and heartwarming tale of opposites attracting when they embark on a wild weekend trip that will change the lives of both men forever.
Son-In-Law
Middle America will never be the same when comedian Pauly Shore travels to the Midwest and becomes the son-in-law.
Shore stars as Crawl, L.A.’s funkiest college student, who’s hilariously out of his element when he spends Thanksgiving at the family farm of a straitlaced college co-ed.
Crawl’s unlike anything the Midwesterners have ever seen — outside the barn that is!
Before long, Crawl’s plowing his way into their hearts with his outrageous antics and offbeat attempts at farming. Get ready for a truckload of laughs and a half-ton of hysteria with this totally irreverent comedy!
What’s Cooking?
A warm portrait of four families who come together for Thanksgiving and express themselves through their cooking.
The Ice Storm
1973, suburban Connecticut, middle class families experimenting with casual sex, drink and drugs find their lives out of control.
Don’t miss out on my other Thanksgiving family fun ideas for all ages (including grown-ups)!
Planes and Trains is a classic! On this list I have to admit I LOVE Scent of a Woman. Al Pacino is the best! And Chris O’Donnell, so cute. I haven’t seen most of the others, looks like I’ll have to watch some over the holidays. Thanks for another great list!
You do have some watching to catch up on… just be warned that a couple of the movies I chose are definitely meant for adults!
Thanks for this list of movies. My grandchildren and myself love to watch movies together.
You’re more than welcome, Lisa! If you’re planning on watching with the grandchildren, just know that a couple of these films are really for adults — most notably The House of Yes and The Ice Storm. Happy viewing!
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving is a must every year for my family, but this year will be special because it will be the first time my daughter will get to watch it as well!
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles is a definite must! And Charlie Brown of course!
I’m going to share this with my daugher who is a movie buff. And then we can watch something together.
Some of these movies are a little more “grown-up” but they’re all fabulous. Planes, Trains and Automobiles is my hands down favorite to watch with my own dad 😀
Thanks for the list. My must see movies this month are Dutch and Planes, trains and automobiles. Gotta try some new ones too. Thanks for the inspiration. Linda @Crafts a la mode
Nice list. You don’t often see movies related to Thanksgiving! Thanks for sharing at #OMHGWW
I loved this post. I am always in the market for good movie ideas. I have chosen you as my featured post for last week’s #OMHGWW Linkup!
Shellie
http://www.thefabjourney.com
Awesome. Thanks for the feature! And happy movie night 🙂
Great list! You can’t go wrong with John Candy and Steve Martin! Trains, Planes, and Automobiles is a classic! Happy Thanksgiving Season!
Seems like Christmas movies get all the attention, but I’m glad Thanksgiving gets some film love too! Charlie Brown has always been a favorite of mine. 🙂
Christmas often trumps our poor Thanksgiving holiday.. but I love these gems. Can’t wait to get Trains, Planes and Automobiles out this week 🙂
Fun list! I think I’ve only seen a couple of those movies. I might have to try out a “new” one from the list and really get in the Thanksgiving mood.
Thanks for sharing with us at the #HomeMattersParty link party.
From a fellow Jenny, this is a great list! My kids still like to prepare for holidays (and sports seasons) with movies. Might pull some of these out after Thanksgiving dinner!
I just saw Pieces of April for the first time last year – really good. I forgot that House of Yes took place then. I loved that movie. But, Charlie Brown is my absolute favorite!
🙂
Traci
Planes, Trains and Automobiles is my favorite to watch — particularly with my Dad. But I also love Hannah and Her Sisters. So good!
Love the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. But I’m surprised “Home for the Holidays” didn’t make your list. All about Thanksgiving and Families. Love it, watch it every year, just wish they didn’t take our Lord’s name in vain.