Feel-Good Thanksgiving Movies

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Cringe-worthy culinary mishaps, treacherous travel follies, and awkward dinner-table conversations are unavoidable on Thanksgiving … at least according to most of the movies set on this classic American holiday. Sure, there’s always turkey and pie, but a heaping helping of drama is usually the main course.

This Thanksgiving, we’re hoping for a little more optimistic take on our favorite day of eating. After we’ve finished watching all the football, we’ll be raising a glass - and our trusty Control Center remote - and giving thanks with a few of these feel-good Thanksgiving movies. (Download the Caavo TV & Movie Guides App to add these selections to your own what-to-watchlist!)

Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)

Yes, there is plenty of the aforementioned travel drama, but this John Candy/Steve Martin comedy remains one of the best Thanksgiving movies around. “Those aren’t pillows!”

Add Planes, Trains, and Automobiles to My Lists on Caavo TV & Movie Guides app

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973)

No Thanksgiving holiday is complete without a side of Peanuts. This Emmy-winning prime-time TV special, which first aired in 1973, stands the test of time and is a tasty treat.

Add A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving to My Lists on Caavo TV & Movie Guides app

The Blind Side (2009)

While Thanksgiving dinner is one small scene in this film, the holiday meal shared by the affluent Tuohy family and seventeen-year-old runaway Michael Oher is an important turning point in this biographical sports drama. Bring tissues.

Add The Blind Side to My Lists on Caavo TV & Movie Guides app

The Other Sister (1999)

Speaking of tissues … Garry Marshall’s sentimental love story will warm your heart. Carla Tate, played by Juliette Lewis, wants to make her Thanksgiving an especially memorable one.

Add The Other Sister to My Lists on Caavo TV & Movie Guides app

Free Birds (2013)

Can’t go wrong with talking animals. The young children in this family will enjoy this animated family film voiced by Owen Wilson and Woody Harrelson.

Add Free Birds to My Lists on Caavo TV & Movie Guides app

She’s Gotta Have It (1986)

Spike Lee’s breakthrough indie romance, which he’s recently reimagined as a Netflix series of the same name, was a spark for the indie film movement of the 1980s. The Thanksgiving scene from the original even made it into the new series, so we’re watching both and comparing notes.

Add She's Gotta Have It to My Lists on Caavo TV & Movie Guides app

Son in Law (1993)

Ah 1993. Power Rangers were flying off the shelves, and Pauly Shore was totally a thing. This classic fish-out-of-water tale may not have won any awards for great acting, but it’s sweet and good for a chuckle. Pauly Shore’s karate moves - and his sweater - in the Thanksgiving scene are mighty fierce.

Add Son in Law to My Lists on Caavo TV & Movie Guides app

Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

Technically a Christmas movie, but it begins on Thanksgiving Day, so we think that makes it the perfect way to kick off holiday movie season.

Add Miracle on 34th Street to My Lists on Caavo TV & Movie Guides app


Happy Thanksgiving from Team Caavo!



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