Nothing Like the Holidays (2008)

Director Alfredo Rodriques de Villa shows a large Puerto Rican family converging for the holidays on the home of the parents (Alfred Molina and Elizabeth Pena) in snowy Chicago. We get to watch them for a full week before Christmas actually arrives. This is a loud, brassy comedy with some serious undertones, full of secrets revealed, forgivenesses accepted, and lots of food shared, as well as quirky jokes and laughter. A special gift is that Maurico (John Leguizamo) and Sarah (Debra Messing) reveal they are expecting a baby. There is a running visual gag about various family members attempting to take down a tree outside the family home that dad promised mom he would remove when they initially bought the house decades ago. The tree wins.