The Family Stone carries itself like a shotgun wedding at a drive-through Vegas wedding chapel. The romance is rushed, but it's pretty darn entertaining.
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: Comedies
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
A machine-tooled entertainment that's as fake and flimsy as a plastic Christmas tree.
The angry scenes are shattering, the funny scenes are sidesplitting and the sadder scenes dutifully earn their tears.
The Family Stone should have been a glittering holiday bauble along the lines of the irresistible Love Actually. Instead, Bezucha stuffs into our stockings what he thinks is good for us.
Moments of high hilarity and cringe-inducing honesty are scattered throughout The Family Stone.
Warm up your belly muscles and grab a box of tissues. When it doesn’t have you aching with laughter, The Family Stone will have you sobbing like a little girl.
It's the kind of warm-hearted, insightful comedy that should become a holiday viewing tradition.
It plays almost like Terms of Endearment crossed with the feel-good yule romance Love Actually.
So check your disbelief at the door, bring along a mini-packet of Kleenex, and brace yourself for Two-Ply and the Family Stone.
What was supposed to be a jewel turns out to be a simple Christmas trinket.
The film ping-pongs between wacky comedy and heavy drama, and it is so heavy on plot and character that it takes on a sitcomlike quality.
When The Family Stone did touch me, I had such mixed feelings, I half-wished the movie had kept its hands to itself.
Suddenly we're wiping away tears, glancing around to make sure no one noticed we had fallen for this steaming cup of melodrama.
It's all fairly obvious and manipulative, though it manages to pander no more than average, and does contain a fair bit of wry humor and wit.
The movie is a holiday romantic comedy that wants to put the holiday romantic comedy out of business.
I don't mind being manipulated as long as it's done well, and writer/director Thomas Bezucha knows how to steer an audience. A great first 'studio' film for Bezucha!
Like most of these family get-together films, it's not quirky enough to be interesting or amusing enough to be funny. The drama sometimes weighs as much as mom's fruitcake.
Rarely have I seen such a maudlin, manipulative, mean-spirited mess masquerading as a holiday comedy.
The Family Stone could have been worse. This dysfunctional family 'comedy' could have been directed by critic's darling Wes Anderson...
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