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Nothing Like the Holidays | 2008 | PG-13 | - 5.4.4

All of the members of the Rodriguez family are coming home for the holidays: Returning from California and New York, and as far away as Iraq, each member comes with his or her own life struggles. With John Leguizamo, Freddy Rodriguez, Jay Hernandez, Melonie Diaz, Alfred Molina, Mercedes Ruehl, Luis Guzman, Vanessa Ferlito and Debra Messing. Directed by Alfredo De Villa. [1:39]

SEX/NUDITY 5 - A husband and wife lie in bed together and it is implied that they had sex: he is bare-chested and she is wearing a lace-trimmed camisole (cleavage is visible), and is worried because they did not use protection.
 A young man and a young woman kiss in a few scenes. A young man and a young woman dance, he kisses her, and she is surprised (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details). A husband and wife hug.
 A husband and wife dance, the husband does what looks like push-ups on the floor, the wife straddles his back, and slaps and squeezes his buttocks. Men and women are shown dancing together in several scenes.
 A wife, upset with her husband, says, "Eat me" and he makes a face like he wouldn't mind (nothing happens). A young man and a young woman say they lost their virginity on the couch they are sitting on. A man walks into a room where two young women are singing and dancing and he says, "Were you two kissing?" A woman says of her son, "The only sex he'll be having is over the phone." A young woman talks about being impressed with how a young man "handles his tools" and another young woman says, "He's good with his hands too." We hear a commercial on the radio that is suggestive: a man described as having a "sexy voice" talks about wanting to give a woman "60 inches" (he's promoting a television). A man tells two young women that a young man had his genitals shot off and replaced with a bionic version. A man talks about another man having a "little thing." A husband tells his wife he'd like to have a baby and she says, "Are you high?" A young man holds up a pair of leopard print bikini underwear and a woman says, "That's for your father." A man asks a man if his "plumbing" is working because he and his wife have not had children yet and the man invites him to "take a gander." A husband tells his wife "You still got it" as he admires her walking away.
 A young man holds a chain saw in front of his crotch and revs the motor (the scene looks phallic). We see a man wearing a tank T-shirt and jockey shorts. A man wears a T-shirt and jockey shorts. Women wear low-cut tops that reveal cleavage in several scenes.

VIOLENCE/GORE 4 - A young man stands in a hallway and confronts a man returning home; he shows him a gun tucked in his pants, they go outside to the alley, the young man holds the gun to the man's face and yells at him (no one is harmed).
 A young man punches another young man in the face when he sees him kissing his girlfriend; they fight and fall back onto a table. A woman slaps a young man in the face.
 A man tries to pull a tree down by wrapping a chain around the bumper of his car; the bumper pulls off the car and the car speeds into a parked car (we see the man being taken to the hospital in an ambulance and see a bloody bandage on his forehead). A man has some sort of attack while driving and loses control of his car (no one is hurt). A young man revs a chain saw and tries to cut a tree down; another young man takes the saw and loses control of it (people around him scatter but no one is hurt).
 A young man talks about a fellow soldier dying when an RPG struck a building he was in. A young man talks about wanting justice for the murder of his brother. We are told that someone has cancer. A young man says he's re-enlisting and going back to Iraq. A man asks a young man if he saw any of "that Black Hawk Down stuff" while serving in Iraq. A young man returns home from military service in Iraq and has been wounded (we see a scar around his eye). A woman says she is divorcing her husband, it is revealed that he has been unfaithful and several people around a table argue over who is at fault. A man tells two young women that a young man had his genitals shot off and replaced with a bionic version.
 Two young women, two young men and a man have a pillow fight (no one is harmed).

LANGUAGE 4 - 9 sexual references, 12 scatological terms, 14 anatomical terms, 8 mild obscenities, name-calling (losers, dirty old man, stupid, thug, chick), 5 religious profanities, 6 religious exclamations.

SUBSTANCE USE - Several men drink beer and smoke cigars while sitting around a fire. People are shown drinking alcohol in a bar scenes, three people drink tequila from a flask, people drink what looks like eggnog served from a rum bottle in several scenes, people are shown drinking beer in a few scenes, several people at a dinner table raise their glasses of wine to toast but do not drink, and a young man holds an open can of beer (he does not drink from it). Several men are shown smoking cigarettes in several scenes, a young woman smokes a cigarette, a man puts a cigarette in his mouth (we do not see him light it), a man holds a cigar in his hand (not lit), and a young woman puts a cigarette in her mouth but is prevented from lighting it. We are told that a woman has gone to happy hour with a girlfriend and she comes home appearing drunk. A man takes a prescription medication.

DISCUSSION TOPICS - Family, responsibilities, murder of a sibling, military service, relationships, homecomings, justice, guilt, trust, keeping things bottled up, divorce, the war in Iraq, weapons of mass destruction, life choices, terminal disease, disappointment, having purpose, misunderstandings, promises, love, marriage, having children, career vs. children, war heroes, cancer, success.

MESSAGE - Life is short.

CAVEATS

Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.

We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.

Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.


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