Thanksgiving is a special time to be thankful for loving families, caring friends, and all the gifts of life we’re lucky to have. It is a day when family and friends gather to break bread and celebrate the gift of the harvest and the miracle of life. A better way to commemorate the great American holiday is to add in a lineup of Thanksgiving films. Although they’re not all centered around the traditional dining table, these films do have one thing in common which are reminders that we can be thankful for lots of things. Either Thanksgiving or any time of the year; these heartwarming classics will remind you to be thankful after enjoying a delicious turkey and stuffing.
An all-time classic, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973) is an excellent holiday special for family and friends to enjoy the story of Charlie Brown and the rest of the Peanuts gang truly learning the meaning of Thanksgiving.
The 1987 holiday classic Planes, Trains, and Automobiles tells the story of Neal (played by Steve Martin), a Chicago advertising man and Del (played by John Candy), a traveling salesman from Chicago who sells shower curtain rings. Both of these men are in Manhattan two days before Thanksgiving, and both want to get home for the holidays. They butt heads along the way but they were fated to travel together.
Grab a box of tissues because this film starring Sandra Bullock will put you in tears. The Blind Side (2009) is a must see Thanksgiving film. It is the story of Michael Oher, a gifted boy from the poorest area of Memphis. He is found and adopted by the Tuohy’s, a wealthy family. The first weekend that Michael spends with the Tuohy’s is Thanksgiving weekend. The audience gets the feeling that eating Thanksgiving around a family table is something he has longed for his entire life
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These Thanksgiving films are an important reminder of what the holiday is all about: feeding our souls. Certainly, the food is great and there’s usually a lot of it, but we join around a table to give thanks for the lives we have and family and friends with whom we share those lives. No matter who makes the Thanksgiving dinner, we hope that you have a heartwarming, soul-satisfying day with your friends and family. Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours.
