With the holidays fast approaching, many of us will find ourselves asking, “How am I related to these people?” No matter how dysfunctional you think your family is, rest assured there’s probably a fictional movie family on par or, even better, nuttier than yours.
No family is without fault of course, and the movie families on our list seem to excel at the insanity in the best ways possible. If you think that your relatives are a little on the strange side, here are seven movie families to make you feel better about yours.
1. The McCallisters (Home Alone)
The McCallister parents could qualify for this list just based on forgetting Kevin at home — twice. When you factor in Buzz, Pesi-chugging and bed-wetting Fuller McCallister, and grumpy Uncle Frank, it’s easy to see how they were likely the most dysfunctional family on the block. Poor Kevin!
2. The Griswolds (National Lampoon’s Vacation)
Clark Griswold means well, but he constantly takes things over-the-top and psychologically tortures his family in the process. The real lunatics in the Griswold family though were, without a doubt, Clark’s extended family. We’re talking of course about cousin Eddie and his snot-nosed kids. It’s advised that you keep your distance from any man who casually empties his RV’s sewage tank into the city sewer system — all while wearing nothing but a bathrobe and boots.
3. The Addams (The Addams Family)
Do we really need to explain just how odd the Addams are? The “they’re kooky and they’re creepy” theme song is definitely a dead giveaway. It’s probably easier just to narrow it down to which Addams is the oddest of them all! Congrats, Uncle Fester, you take the top honors by a long shot. Nobody should be able to light up a light bulb by simply sticking it in their mouth.
4. The Byrneses and the Fockers (Meet The Parents)
Pop quiz! Which is worse, having a father-in-law (Robert De Niro) who hooks you up to a lie detector test or a mother (Barbara Streisand) who hands out unsolicited sex advice over dinner? Trick question, they’re both equally unappealing. All there’s left to say, really, is “Good luck, Greg!”
5. The Tenenbaums (The Royal Tenenbaums)
If there were an Olympics for dysfunctional families, the Tenenbaums would take the gold medal without question. A father (Gene Hackman) who fakes a terminal illness, child prodigies who squander their talents out of spite, and a mother (Anjelica Huston) who lives under the same roof as her ex and her husband? This New York family was in desperate need of some family therapy.
6. The Hendersons (Harry and the Hendersons)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jD4toCh6lbE
The Hendersons are pretty normal on the surface. Of course, when the family willingly brings back Sasquatch to live with them in their Seattle home, all pretense of normalcy are instantly shattered. Because really, no amount of charm is going to convince the neighbors that Bigfoot shacking up in your garage is the same as adopting a dog.
7. The Hoovers (Little Miss Sunshine)
The Hoovers are most definitely odd, but they’re also pretty depressing as well. After all, it’s kind of hard to put a positive spin on a grandfather who’s addicted to heroin, and a suicidal uncle. The audience and the Hoovers both seem to know that the trip to take the daughter to a beauty pageant is destined for failure, but you can’t help but root for these misfits anyway.
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