Jesse (Freddy Rodriguez) returns from the army and Mauricio (John Leguizamo) brings his wife (Debra Messing) home for Christmas. But their plans for a quiet holiday are ruined when their mother announces she is leaving their father (Alfred Molina).

Film Trivia

• Producer Robert Teitel grew up in Humboldt Park, Chicago's Puerto Rican neighbourhood. His friends and family convinced him to make a film about the area. Freddy Rodriguez also grew up in Humboldt Park.
• The main cast members claim they put on a lot of weight while making this film because of all the Puerto Rican food they had to eat during filming.
• John Leguizamo has said that he felt part of a real family while making this film. Unlike his other films he didn't go back to his trailer after filming had ended, instead he went out to lunch and dinner with the rest of the cast.
• The scene where the entire family is eating dinner took 18 hours to film. Because it was so hard to stay motivated, John Leguizamo would do press ups and jump around a lot to keep his body awake.
• Freddy Rodriguez is best known for playing Rico on the hit US series Six Feet Under.

If you like Nothing Like The Holidays, try these:

• Christmas Story
• Christmas With The Kranks
• Bad Santa