Whether you are baking your turkey, mashing your potatoes or buttering your bread this year, find some time to watch a Thanksgiving movie with your family that will leave you feeling more thankful. Here are three films that are sure to go well with your feast. 

“You’ve Got Mail” (1998) 

A Tom Hanks-Meg Ryan feature, “You’ve Got Mail” is a rom-com that will certainly fill the family room with laughs. The film follows businessman Joe Fox (Hanks) and bookseller Kathleen Kelly (Ryan), who meet online and become a couple. However, when they realize on Thanksgiving that they are business rivals in real life, both struggle with the love they have already developed for each other. 

“There’s a reason ‘You’ve Got Mail’ has become a romcom classic: It is knit together like a perfectly cabled sweater, with nary a stitch dropped,” Common Sense Media critic S. Jhoanna Robledo said. 

“The Blind Side” (2009)

One of Sandra Bullock’s most critically-acclaimed films, “The Blind Side” explores her character’s maternal relationship with football player Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron). In the film, Oher, a homeless Black man, is adopted by white parents Leigh Anne Tuohy (Bullock) and her husband Sean (Tim McGraw). 

While Thanksgiving is not at the center of this film, its presence in several scenes reminds viewers that Oher is thankful for his family, particularly Leign Anne, and his newly-found passion for football. 

For her performance, Bullock won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Drama and the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role in 2010.

“The thing that we should all be most thankful for is family and that sense of belonging,” math teacher Lindsay Botha said. “This story of adoption and inclusion and making everyone feel that even if their biological families aren’t there, that they’re part of a family unit, is super important.”

“Free Birds” (2013)

An animated film, “Free Birds” explores the journey of two turkeys who travel back in time to the very first Thanksgiving. Their mission is to prevent any turkeys from becoming Thanksgiving dinner. Voiced by Woody Harrelson and Owen Wilson, the two birds are met by colonists who seek to capture turkeys for the pilgrims. 

“‘Free Birds’ gives a backstory behind Thanksgiving of how it came to be and why it’s so important to our cultures,” junior Luke Marrufo said. 

All movies vary between streaming service and cable availability, but they are all on DVD and Blu-Ray. Happy Thanksgiving, movie watchers!

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