Family Reunions

What’s Cooking?

The Daytrippers

Happy Thanksgiving, dear readers, and apologies for not doing another Keanusgiving this year, but I thought I’d spice things up this time around by actually viewing some Thanksgiving films. There are many different ways to celebrate Thanksgiving—I personally like to celebrate by hexing Christopher Columbus’ ancestors and any other colonizers that are left that haven’t died of an STI. But no matter how you celebrate, there’s typically an obligation to be in contact with your family. Because celebrating genocide, cooking for days in the kitchen, and an influx of forced patriotism wasn’t off-putting enough. I love my family, I love seeing them, I even love eating with them. But there is this weird tension surrounded with Thanksgiving, that amazingly doesn’t even have to do with Christopher Columbus. Maybe it’s the post-Halloween depression or the pre-Christmas jitters or just the pressure to be put-together and nice, but Thanksgiving has anxiety written all over it. Maybe you’re one of the lucky, sick few who appreciate Thanksgiving and take solace in this holiday, but for the players of tonight’s two films, Thanksgiving is anything but peaceful. First was Gurinder Chadha’s film from the year 2000, What’s Cooking? I’m a big fan of Gurinder Chadha’s work, specifically Angus, Thongs, & Perfect Snogging and Blinded by the Light, and this is the first film of hers, that I’d seen, that was not set in the UK. But just like her other films, What’s Cooking? weaves a lovely tapestry of different cultures, perspectives, flavors, and quirks—this time set on Fairfax Street in Los Angeles, California. I love Fairfax street, and to see the early 2000s version of it was fascinating, because it didn’t look much different than it does now. Told in a semi-sorta Slacker style, where stories intertwine but don’t necessarily intersect, What’s Cooking? follows four different families on one particularly stressful Thanksgiving. There’s the Nguyens, a Vietnamese family reckoning with the clashing of old traditions and new, then there’s the Williams family, a black family dealing with the age-old issue of discussing politics at the dinner table, then the Avilas, a Latinx family who’s harmony has been disturbed by a recent divorce, and finally, the Seeligs, a Jewish family who is still learning to accept that their daughter is a lesbian. There are a TON of fascinating, complicated, and delicate issues discussed in What’s Cooking?, and within every ethnically and generationally-diverse conversation, there is no shortage of lessons to be learned, and cringe to be felt. Even for the year 2000, What’s Cooking? features thoughtful and considerate dialogue surrounding issues of race, class, gender, and the intersectionality of it all. Engaging in these interesting conversations is one of the most random but brilliant casts ever: featuring Joan Chen, Kristy Wu, Will Yun Lee, François Chau, Mercedes Ruehl, Douglas Spain, Maria Carmen, Lainie Kazan, Maury Chaykin, Kyra Sedgwick, Julianna Margulies, Estelle Harris, Dennis Haysbert (All State guy), Shareen Mitchell, and Alfre Woodard—who always provides the most bone-chilling stare. Each of their performances felt authentic and lived-in, as if they were all truly related or, at the very least, spent a good deal of time together. The writing was easy, breezy, and straightforward for such a narratively-mixed premise, and even though I have enough stress in my life, I was captivated by the unique but relatable anxieties these families were experiencing. Like I said, for the early 2000s, this film is downright progressive. But when each of their rousing debates came to a close, it didn’t really feel like everyone had come to the same conclusion—just an agreement to disagree. Which, for what it’s worth, is pretty much how these intergenerational conversations happen in real life. Because while we may love our families, there are plenty of frustrating conversations to be had, especially, for some reason, during Thanksgiving. Each family’s preparation of the turkey and their choice of side dishes was different, and really fun to watch come together. Whether animated or live-action, a cooking scene can be so thrilling. There was plenty of food to be consumed, plenty of drama to sink your teeth into, and just the right amount of storming off from the table. What’s Cooking? delivers a delicious, perfectly well-rounded Thanksgiving experience, one that includes stories and perspectives that most people’s traditions do not. While the chaos is consistent, the film wraps up rather cleanly, though I’m not sure if the same could be said for Greg Mottola’s 1996 indie film The Daytrippers. The Daytrippers follows the Malone family on the day after Thanksgiving, when the eldest daughter Eliza (Hope Davis) finds what appears to be a love letter from someone other than her, among her husband Louis’ (Stanley Tucci) stuff. The film opens on Eliza and Louis just as they’re leaving Thanksgiving dinner, cuddling together in the car to stay warm, where a young Stanley Tucci says “Happy Thanksgiving” with an erotic tenderness that could make even this critic be thankful for the holiday. The next day, Eliza stumbles upon a suspicious love letter, Louis goes off to work, and Eliza panics and goes to her family’s house, where her sister Jo (Parker Posey) and her boyfriend Carl (Liev Schreiber) are visiting for the holiday. Her mother (Anne Meara) hatches a plan, to take the whole gang from Long Island to New York City, so Eliza can confront Louis at his office, face-to-face. The classic old, bickering couple (Meara and Pat McNamara), the new, excitable couple, and Eliza pile into the car and make their way, while Carl tells the family about the book he’s writing. This character is fascinating because while Liev Schreiber looks like an academic, Mac DeMarco if he took a shower-esque individual, he becomes more repulsive as he speaks. It seems odd, I know, to focus any time on this character beyond his intro and his contribution to the hijinks, but The Daytrippers really seemed fascinated with this pretentious, aristocratic, somewhat sociopathic, potentially-libertarian character, and Liev played him scary-well. And while I’ve written an entire blogpost on Parker Posey, her brilliance and effortless comedic aptitude should never go unrecognized. Her and Liev made a hot couple, the parents made a perfectly paranoid and exhausted couple, and the entire family seemed to have a lot of fun with this little adventure, except Eliza of course. The Malones go through trials and tribulations, random unhelpful strangers and a hilariously drunk Marcia Gay Harden to get to Louis, so Eliza can discover his secret. I won’t disclose that here, of course, but it is one worth uncovering for yourself. The Daytrippers presents us with a believably dysfunctional family, and an ending that is far from easy, breezy, or straightforward. It combines the hustle and bustle of the city with the frenetic energy that can be found within just about any family unit, which makes for the most fun you can have while suffering from anxiety. It’s funny, because The Daytrippers seems much more stressful than the wholesome family reunions displayed in What’s Cooking?, but I found What’s Cooking? to be way more stressful. But it wouldn’t be Thanksgiving if it weren’t stressful! If you’re looking for an out-of-the-box Thanksgiving film this year, either of these are sure to entertain and frustrate you—in the best way possible. Or, at the very least, they’d make a good distraction from your family if you need one. I hope you’re staying warm and nourished and keeping your peace as best as you can this holiday season, and until next week, I’ll leave you with this.