14 Heartwarming Thanksgiving Movies and Specials

Tower Heist (2011)

The plot: When he loses his pension in a Ponzi scheme masterminded by Wall Street businessman Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda, 89), luxury apartment building manager Josh Kovaks (Ben Stiller, 59) hatches a plan to break into Shaw’s penthouse and steal back the money. He enlists his coworkers — a petty criminal (Eddie Murphy, 64) and a bankrupt investor (Matthew Broderick, 63) — to pull off the heist of the century during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

The dish: Revenge — best served cold.

Watch it: Tower Heist

Home for the Holidays (1995)

The plot: Jodie Foster, 63, directs this sweet comedy that proves that you can go home again — though if you do, you might wind up watching your dad spray your brother and brother-in-law with a hose as they fight on the front lawn. When she finds out that her daughter (Claire Danes) has decided to skip Thanksgiving, single mom Claudia (Holly Hunter, 67) flies back to Baltimore to spend the holiday with her parents, played by Anne Bancroft and Charles Durning. When friends, in-laws and siblings arrive (including Robert Downey Jr., 60, as her younger brother Tommy), secrets are revealed, punches are thrown, and the turkey is dropped in someone’s lap.

The dish: Sweet potatoes — dotty Aunt Glady (played by Charlie Chaplin’s daughter, Geraldine Chaplin, 81) will eat only the ones she made herself.

Watch it: Home for the Holidays

Jim Henson’s Turkey Hollow (2015)

The plot: Following Yuletide classics such as The Muppet Christmas Carol and Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas, the Jim Henson Company set its sights on a new holiday in this family-friendly Lifetime movie, with a story conceived by Henson back in 1968. When a divorced dad (Jay Harrington, 54) takes his family to the town of Turkey Hollow for an unplugged Thanksgiving with his eccentric Aunt Cly (Mary Steenburgen, 72), the kids set out into the woods and meet a musical quartet of furry puppet monsters called Squonk, Zorp, Burble and Thrinng. Rapper Ludacris narrates this quirky tale you’ll want to share with your grandkids. 

The dish: Rock candy, as a nod to the rocks the monsters like to eat.

Watch it: Jim Henson’s Turkey Hollow

​A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973)

The plot: This Emmy-winning TV special is as comforting as buttery mashed potatoes, with memorable moments that include Linus’ prayer about the first Thanksgiving, Lucy pulling the football out from under Charlie Brown for the umpteenth time, and Woodstock and Snoopy splitting the wishbone. And even the Peanuts gang isn’t safe from a little dinner table bickering: Peppermint Patty gets annoyed by Charlie Brown’s rather unconventional menu ...

The dish: C.B.’s DIY feast (including buttered toast, pretzels, popcorn, jelly beans and an ice cream sundae).

Watch it: A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving

Garfield’s Thanksgiving (1989)

The plot: More of an amuse-bouche than a full meal, this 24-minute holiday special sees everyone’s favorite orange cat receive some devastating news from the vet over the Thanksgiving holiday: He’s overweight and must go on a strict diet — including a measly half a leaf of lettuce for lunch. Garfield’s owner, Jon Arbuckle, has a crush on the doc and invites her over for Thanksgiving, but he’s inept at cooking, resulting in an unthawed turkey and an otherwise disastrous dinner. Showing up at the last minute to save the day is Grandma, who chainsaws the frozen turkey and turns it into croquettes as Jon distracts the vet with boring tales of the first Thanksgiving.

The dish: A sensible salad, in honor of Garfield’s diet fare.

Watch it: Garfield’s Thanksgiving

An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving (2008)

The plot: Loosely based on a short story by Louisa May Alcott, this sentimental Hallmark Channel movie follows a widowed mother and her three children, who live on a struggling farm in New Hampshire in the 1860s. When they can’t afford a turkey for Thanksgiving, the oldest daughter (played by Emmy-winning Orphan Black star Tatiana Maslany) contacts her rich, estranged grandmother (Jacqueline Bisset, 81) to ask for help, and her arrival stirs up drama and family secrets. If you like Little Women, you’ll find something to love here.

The dish: Puddings, which get shouted out by the children many times in both the film and the story on which it’s based.

Watch it: An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving

Free Birds (2013)

The plot: OK, this computer-animated movie is admittedly a bit bizarre, but if you need to entertain the grandkids while you’re baking pies, they’re certain to gobble-gobble it up — pun intended. Reggie (Owen Wilson, 57), a domesticated turkey who is pardoned by the president, teams up with wild turkeys Jake (Woody Harrelson, 64) and Jenny (Amy Poehler, 54) to time travel back to the Plymouth Colony in 1621 to keep their kind off the first Thanksgiving menu. George Takei, 88, lends his voice as S.T.E.V.E., the artificial intelligence in their egg-shaped time machine.

The dish: Tofurkey.

Watch it: Free Birds

Scent of a Woman (1992)

The plot: Al Pacino, 85, earned his only Oscar — so far! — for this surprisingly sentimental buddy movie, in which prep school student Charlie Simms (Chris O’Donnell, 55) is hired to look after blind, alcoholic, tango-dancing veteran Frank Slade (Pacino) to earn some money over Thanksgiving break. During a particularly awkward holiday dinner, his nephew Randy (Bradley Whitford, 66) reveals the shocking way Frank lost his eyesight — but we won’t spoil it for you.

The dish: “John” Daniels whiskey; as Frank explains it, “He may be Jack to you, son, but when you’ve known him as long as I have …”

Watch it: Scent of a Woman

Paul Blart: Mall Cop (2009)

The plot: Slate writer Karen Han declared this slapstick-heavy Kevin James, 60, action vehicle an official Thanksgiving movie, dubbing it a “suburban spin on Die Hard.” It’s Black Friday, and the mild-mannered, Segway-riding security guard must take on a gang of burglars who disguise themselves as Santa’s Village employees and plan to rob $30 million from the New Jersey mall where he works. Critics turned the film into a punchline, but it ended up grossing $183.3 million worldwide and even spawned a sequel.

The dish: A leftover turkey sandwich filled with mashed potatoes and stuffing, the ultimate way to carbo-load before a Black Friday shopathon — or a Black Friday crime-fighting mission.

Watch it: Paul Blart: Mall Cop