The Critics Speak

The Family Stone

Critic: Steph Lewis
On a scale of 0 to Awesome, I rate this: Lowest Common Denominator
Released: December 16, 2005
Director: Thomas Bezucha
MPAA RATING: PG-13, for some sexual content including dialogue, and drug references.

Synopsis: Destined to be a Christmas classic, Thomas Bezucha's dazzling dramedy, THE FAMILY STONE, manages to be both warm-hearted 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 (one wonders which came first, the title or the script). 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 clearly intimate and respectful progeny. When Meredith's humorless aura infects the homestead, it is mom Sybil and sister Amy (Rachel McAdams), sensing a romance mismatch and attack her venomously, sparking a tete-a-tete-a-tete between three fiesty females. While this Battle Royale wages, dramatic subplots brew in the backdrop, 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. --Taken from Rotten Tomatoes

My Take: I was so disappointed in this movie because I love Sarah Jessica Parker, Diane Keaton, and Luke Wilson. How then, can a movie with such a funny cast, be so... not funny? Because the script was shallow. Because the passing of time was poorly handled. Because there were too many characters not allowed to develop properly. If Robert Altman directed this, then I'd bet he could pull off properly developing all of these characters, but he didn't and they aren't. Anyway, I laughed because I was watching it with my mom over Christmas and was already in good spirits. The jokes were all obvious though and weren't really that clever. The ending was obvious. Basically... it was your typical "Gee, I want to laugh but I don't want to think" movie.