Let's just call it Meet the Stepmom for the Holidays and be done with it.
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
One of those films that succeeds not because it surprises you, but because it does what you want it to do -- and it does so pretty well.
So determined to pair everyone up, whether logically or not, you'd think Noah's Ark was coming to town
Like the character of Meredith, the film's bravado cannot mask a messy soul but should be given respect for showing up and sticking it out.
Nothing like a little poignancy to mask a distasteful Christmas brew. But Rachel McAdams is hot.
As one of the more likable holiday films to come around in a long time, the comedy The Family Stone will also surprise you with its depth and emotional appeal.
And here, just in time for the holidays, is a television movie all dressed like a feature film.
The dark humor is amusing enough to suck you into the film, and the melodramatic conclusion will send you out of the theater with a tear in your eye.
Gleefully irreverent and proudly offbeat in its rhythmic mix of pluckiness and pathos, Bezucha's festive family farce is up front and center.
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.
There are just too many damn characters, with the best ones taking a backseat to the dullish love quadrangle.
It feels forcibly formulaic and yet sort of daringly original, all at the same time.
One of those cloying familiar whacky holiday formulaic sitcom drama/comedies that is what it is.
A terrific screwball comedy in its own right, like a more erudite Meet the Parents.
The delightful Stone family becomes the villain, and we're left unsure whether to crow in triumph when [Meredith] flees or hope she returns with a bazooka and blows the house up. It's this moral ambivalence that makes this thing so interesting.
It's worth two hours for those who appreciate this kind of workmanlike, low-risk drama.
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