Humboldt Park star of 'Nothing Like the Holidays'

Given that the appallingly simple-minded "Four Christmases" has become a bona fide box office hit, "Nothing Like the Holidays" should theoretically become a blockbuster. It's a far better domestic seasonal comedy, and it turns Chicago's Puerto Rican community of Humboldt Park into an appealing supporting character.

Not that "Nothing Like the Holidays" is a great movie. At best, it ranks as a perfectly accommodating entry in the popular nutty-family-get-together genre with other films such as "Home for the Holidays" and "The Family Stone."

Joy fills the air at the Rodriguez house where the middle-aging Edy and Anna Rodriguez (played by acting aces Alfred Molina and Elizabeth Pena) welcome their children and extended families, each loaded with genre prerequisite issues and resentments that roil to the surface as the holidays ramp up.

Jesse (Chicago's own Freddy Rodriguez, making his debut as an executive producer) has returned from the Iraq war after suffering injuries. He has unfinished business with the girl he left behind, Marissa (Melonie Diaz).

Successful lawyer Mauricio (John Leguizamo) brings home more than his luggage: his Jewish wife Sarah (TV's "Will and Grace" star Debra Messing), a financial officer who would rather conduct business on the phone than supply Anna with the grandchildren she so openly campaigns for.

Speaking of phones, sister Roxanna (Vanessa Ferlito) is constantly on hers to her tireless Hollywood agent (so tireless that he apparently works on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day), trying to land an acting gig so she can become the star her family already imagines her to be.

Cousin Johnny (character actor Luis Guzman) has stayed in Humboldt Park, and brings his family members up to speed on everything except why father Edy keeps receiving mysterious phone calls he hides from his wife.

One night at the dinner table, Anna utters a simple declaration with the impact of a detonating hand grenade: "I'm leaving your father!" Stone silence.

"You can't!" a shocked Mauricio says. "You're old!"

"Nothing Like the Holidays" has been capably directed by Alfredo "Washington Heights" De Villa with just enough flair to keep it from resembling a made-for-TV production. The marketing department at Overture Films doesn't do him any favors: All the movie's comic highlights have been commandeered by the trailers, especially the running gag involving Edy trying to cut down a gnarled old tree in the front yard.

The movie bears the made-in-Chicago stamp of producers Bob Teitel and George Tillman Jr., two Windy City guys whose previous local hits "Barbershop" and "Soul Food" radiate the same sense of community warmth and emotional sincerity that "Nothing Like the Holidays" exudes.

Give some of the credit to the cast members, who add considerable sparkle to a conventional, unsurprising screenplay by Alison Swan and Rick Najera. Pena and Rodriquez are standouts, supplying depth and texture to characters better than their material.

"Nothing Like the Holidays"

Rating: 2½ stars

Starring: Freddy Rodriguez, Elizabeth Pena, Alfred Molino, John Leguizamo, Debra Messing, Luis Guzman

Directed by: Alfredo De Villa

An Overture Films release. Rated PG-13 for sexual dialogue and drug references. 99 minutes

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=256580">'Holidays' a family affair on Humboldt Park movie set <span class="date">[12/09/08]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>