Despite its flaws, The Family Stone sparkles bright with originality.
The Family Stone (2005)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:147
Fresh:77
Rotten:70
Average Rating:5.9/10
Consensus: This family holiday dramedy features fine performances but awkward shifts of tone.
Rated: PG [See Full Rating] for some sexual content including dialogue, and drug references.
Runtime: 1 hr 46 mins
Genre: Dramas
Theatrical Release:16-12-2005
Synopsis: Destined to be a Christmas classic, Thomas Bezucha's dazzling dramedy, THE FAMILY STONE, manages to be both warmhearted and sentimental while possessing a razor-sharp hilarious mean streak. The... Destined to be a Christmas classic, Thomas Bezucha's dazzling dramedy, THE FAMILY STONE, manages to be both warmhearted and sentimental while possessing a razor-sharp hilarious mean streak. The fairly conventional story centers on Sarah Jessica Parker's uptight career woman, Meredith, and her run-in with the eponymous Stone family. With her permanently pursed lips and severe bun, SJP looks and acts the anti-Carrie Bradshaw here as, armed with cell phone and business-suit collection, she gears up to meet her fiance's oddball family, a tight-knit, colorful clan who border on bohemian. Matriarch Sybil (Diane Keaton) and patriarch Kelly (Craig T. Nelson) are a loving couple whose diverse children are affectionate and respectful. When Meredith's humorless aura infects the homestead, it is mom Sybil and sister Amy (Rachel McAdams), who sense a romantic mismatch and attack her venomously, sparking a tete-a-tete-a-tete between three feisty females. While this Battle Royal is waged, dramatic subplots brew in the background, one involving the deaf and gay brother Thad's desire to adopt a child, and the other a rather devastating secret on the verge of exposure. It is in the emergence of Meredith's refreshingly calm and breezy younger sister, Julie (Claire Danes), entering the film with a dramatic fall from a bus exit, that brings all conflict to a head. [More]
Starring: Claire Danes, Diane Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Sarah Jessica Parker
Starring: Claire Danes, Diane Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Sarah Jessica Parker, Dermot Mulroney, Luke Wilson, Tyrone Giordano, Brian White, Elizabeth Reazer, Savannah Stehlin, Paul Schneider
Director: Thomas Bezucha
Director: Thomas Bezucha
Producer: Michael London
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Reviews for The Family Stone
Bezucha deftly avoids stereotypes to bring us an entertaining and honest family comedy.
Disappointing and ultimately irritating film that fails on several counts, despite a handful of strong performances.
After a bit of a rocky start, The Family Stone blossoms into a beautifully crafted morass of dysfunctionality.
One of the things I like about The Family Stone is that the characters seem real. They may have some quirks, but they're realistic quirks, not those devised by an overly clever screenwriter.
As a comedy, The Family Stone is more easy listening than rock-and-roll, but some of the performances (notably from McAdams and Nelson) are comfortable and affecting.
The plot is motored more by convenience than credible character behavior and for much of the time, the cockles of our hearts remain unwarmed.
There are just too many damn characters, with the best ones taking a backseat to the dullish love quadrangle.
Go ahead--throw the first stone. Throw it right at the screen. Take aim, wind up and let the rocks rip.
The movie is a holiday romantic comedy that wants to put the holiday romantic comedy out of business.
Showered with such gifts as McAdams and Danes, Bezucha surprisingly squeezes precious few laughs out of his syrupy yuletide cider.
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