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| Director
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Thomas Bezucha
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| Starring
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Dermot Mulroney, Sarah Jessica
Parker, Claire Danes |
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| The plot of
The Family Stone |
At Christmastime, Everett Stone (Mulroney) comes
home to his loving family with his girlfriend
Meredith (Parker) in tow. Everett wants to propose,
Meredith wants to accept, but the family, who
has bristled at Meredith's presence in their home,
want things to turn out differently. |
The Family
Stone Review
|
Review by Justin
Chang:
The culture clash between
a high-strung New Yorker and her boyfriend's free-spirited
kin yields a smart, tart but mildly undercooked Christmas
pudding in "The Family Stone." Writer-director
Thomas BezuchaThomas Bezucha's lovingly mounted ensembler
has many heartfelt moments and a keen ear for the rhythms
of domestic life, which make the neatly gift-wrapped
outcome somewhat disappointing. Delayed from a November
opening, producer Michael LondonMichael London's "Sideways"
follow-up reps a classy holiday release for Fox that
should connect with auds of all ages, though Sarah Jessica
Parker's distractingly out-of-sync performance will
likely spur mixed reactions.From its postcard-worthy
opening credits, featuring wintry snapshots of a New
England country house set to the tune of "Let It
Snow," pic frames itself as a homage to that quintessential
movie about family, holidays and the inevitability of
change, "Meet Me in St. Louis."..more..
Review By Brian
Orndorf:
Christmastime has come
for the Stones, including Kelly (Craig T. Nelson) and
Sybil (Diane Keaton), and their children, rebellious
Amy (Rachel McAdams), stoner Ben (Luke Wilson), deaf
and gay Thad (Tyrone Giordano), pregnant Susannah (Elizabeth
Reaser), and businessman Everett (Dermot Mulroney),
who is bringing his uptight girlfriend Meredith (Sarah
Jessica Parker) home with him for the holidays.The Stones
immediately dislike Meredith, finding their tight family
ways conflict with her frigidness and unease with their
lifestyle. As the holidays wear on, and Meredith calls
in her sister (Claire Danes) for reinforcement, the
drama escalates in the household, altering the family
dynamic in ways nobody was expecting in what was to
be a nice, quiet Christmas.First and foremost, 20th
Century Fox's marketing department deserves a leather
glove across the face for the way they're marketing
"Family Stone." If you've seen the ads, "Stone"
looks like a laugh riot, with actors dancing to superhits
of the 70s and slipping around in spilled food. But
what writer/director Thomas Bezucha ("Big Eden")
has constructed with "Stone" is far more complicated
and sentimental. Maybe that's why the studio is afraid
to tell audiences what they're really buying a ticket
to.A dysfunctional home for the holidays tale isn't
anything cinematically revolutionary, and "Stone"
has a lot in common with Jodie Foster's 1995 ode to
family unit terror, "Home for the Holidays."
Where Bezucha excels is rendering that tight family
circle feel, where insults are flung just as hard as
hugs, and split-second shorthand has developed over
years of intimacy. The Stones are a snug group, and
they feel authentic, which is Bezucha's greatest surprise.
The filmmaker gets close to his characters, making it
easy to feel their ice toward Meredith, which is crucial
to the success of the story..More..
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