There comes a point in the holiday season when you put away the spooky Halloween movies and patiently wait until the point society deems it acceptable to start watching Christmas movies – a hot topic of debate better had another time. It is a bit sad that films shining a spotlight on Thanksgiving are not a hot commodity in Hollywood, as sometimes you want to commemorate the day with a cinematic experience without wearing out the few most notable ones – Planes, Trains and Automobiles being the holy grail. This is what makes the feature debut from writer/director Nicol Paone such an exciting prospect, as those longing for premium Thanksgiving content feel like they have been living in a virtual wasteland of content. Friendsgiving takes the titular millennial-friendly tradition and brings along a cavalcade of enjoyable performers including Kat Dennings (WandaVision), Malin Akerman (Watchmen), Aisha Tyler (Archer), Chelsea Peretti (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) and countless others to hopefully work their comedy magic. While the film ultimately feels a bit underwhelming, there are enough laughs to make it worth your time.
While the idea of being around family on Thanksgiving can bring about a light anxiety-sweat to those with more complicated familial dynamics, Friendsgiving goes to show that things are not necessarily going to be easier when you stick with friends. The two best friends at the center of this frantic day are Molly (Malin Akerman) and Abby (Kat Dennings), childhood best friends and emotional pillars for one another during their tough times. Molly is an actor of a certain amount of fame who is dealing with a fresh divorce and a relatively new infant son. The movie tells us she is in an emotional tailspin despite outward appearances. She lives in a gorgeous home and is exploring a mostly-physical rebound relationship with Jeff (Jack Donnelly). She plans on spending a quiet Thanksgiving with Abby, a recently-out lesbian who is nursing a broken heart from a breakup. Molly explodes these plans with a dinner invitation to their mutual friend Lauren (Aisha Tyler) and her family when travel plans fall through. What begins as one extra family devolves into a flood of close and not-so-close friends joining them which puts Molly and Abby at odds.
From the beginning, Paone does a fine job of making the friendship between Molly and Abby ring true. You can tell there is a genuine affection between one another even when tensions are running high. It is when we get to the other guests of the gathering where the movie seemingly abandons the idea of these people feeling like a cohesive group that could conceivably be friends in real-life. Most of the characters introduced are very broad archetypes that, while often funny, feels a bit lazy and one note after a while. The most grounded outside of these two would be Lauren, who gets to indulge in her more outrageous side during an experimentation with mushrooms, which Paone strangely does not take as far as she could have. Chelsea Peretti plays the reformed trainwreck turned new age practitioner who garners the most chuckles when she lets shades of her former life shine through. One of the biggest laughs of the movie is an unscripted moment with her that was wisely left in the film involving some harmless choking. The characters only get bigger from here including a botoxed Christine Taylor and Jane Seymour in an over-the-top Swedish horndog mode as Molly’s mother.
The movie tries to bring all of these performers together into a satisfying narrative, but the movie cannot help but feel like a series of small sketches stitched together. This would not be a huge issue if the movie delivered the side splitting laughs to make this approach work. As it stands, though, the film is more so generally pleasant and smirk-inducing, which may be enough for your light holiday fair. There is nothing offensively bad about this film. It is consistently entertaining on some level, and the themes of family being made with those closest to you is always one worth championing. Films of female friendship have thankfully been on the rise in the past few years, but there is always work to be done in this department. With the level of talent involved in this film, you expect more non-stop hilarity, but the inconsistent script leaves you feeling the potential of the concept was not fully realized. You could do worse than watching a group of funny (mostly) female comedians come together for a raucous gathering, but do not expect this one to be an all-timer in the grand scheme of things.
Video Quality
Lionsgate Home Entertainment brings Friendsgiving to Blu-Ray with a very pleasing 1080p video presentation in its original 1.85:1. The image is clean with the bright, warm color palette popping off the screen. The film employs nice splashes of bold colors within the production design and clothing, which makes for a very striking image. The black levels are appropriately deep and inky with no discernible digital noise. The flesh tones are natural with a magnificent amount of detail present in close-ups. The presentation provides a significant amount of depth on display, especially in the interior shots. The production design from the chaotic kitchen to the outdoor patio area, along with the fabrics of clothing, provide crystal clear textural details. This is as solid of a presentation as any modern movie should deliver on Blu-Ray.
Audio Quality
This Blu-Ray comes with a steady DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track that recreates the settings perfectly. Dialogue is the driving force of the film, and it always comes through crisp and clear without being clipped by any competing sounds. There is very little in the way of action sequences, but the environmental sounds of the house engage the surround speakers in a really pleasing way. Ambient sounds are precisely placed in the rear channels. The music in the film fills the speakers in a wonderful, well-balanced way. There are a few exaggerated moments in the film that engage the low end in a really pleasing manner. The audio track is not pushed to the limit with this content, but it nonetheless proves to be an excellent sounding presentation for this feature.
Special Features
- Audio Commentary: Writer/Director Nicol Paone and Producer/Actor Malin Akerman provide a jovial and informative commentary track in which the pair relay humorous anecdotes from the production of the film and discuss what this movie meant to them. You can feel the friendship between these two as you listen to this one.
- Making Friendsgiving – Serving Up Insanity: A nearly fourteen-minute look behind the scenes which features very humorous interviews with the cast and crew. The participants discuss the inspiration for the story, characteristics of different characters and more.
- Gag Reel: A five-minute collection of flubbed lines, crazy improvs, forgotten lines and more that are some of the highlights from the entire disc.
Final Thoughts
Friendsgiving is a pleasant enough time waster, but the laughs do not come as fast and furious as you might expect from such a talented ensemble. The inexperience behind the camera is noticeable in the overall construction of the narrative, but Paone is still a talent to keep an eye on as she gains more experience. Lionsgate Home Entertainment has released a Blu-Ray with a pretty wonderful A/V presentation and a few interesting special features. Thanksgiving films are few and far between, and this might not be a bad one to break out every couple of years or so.
Friendsgiving is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray, DVD and Digital.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Lionsgate Home Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
