The Family Stone Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES
Feel The Love.
The Stone family unites in common cause when their favorite son brings his uptight girlfriend home for the Christmas holiday, with plans of proposing. Overwhelmed by the hostile reception, she begs her sister to join her for emotional support, triggering further complications.
| Claire Danes | Julie Morton |
| Diane Keaton | Sybil Stone |
| Rachel McAdams | Amy Stone |
| Dermot Mulroney | Everett Stone |
| Craig T. Nelson | Kelly Stone |
| Sarah Jessica Parker | Meredith Morton |
| Luke Wilson | Ben Stone |
| Tyrone Giordano | Thad Stone |
| Brian J. White | Patrick Thomas |
| Elizabeth Reaser | Susannah Stone Trousdale |
| Paul Schneider | Brad Stevenson |
| Savannah Stehlin | Elizabeth Trousdale |
| Jamie Kaler | John Trousdale |
| Robert Dioguardi | David Silver |
| Carol Locatell | Jeweler |
| Thomas Bezucha |
6.30 out of 10 (12580 votes)
Visitor Reviews
Fantasy+Crap = FantaCrap
posted on 30 Aug 2009This film was a major disappointment, yes the "home for the holidays" family crisis films have all been done, however this one was very bad. The cast was an all star and very diverse cast. However, who the hell cares about the their characters since the film and script never develops the characters. To me this film just played off my many stereotypes of families and the constant changing family dynamic. One thing that keeps puzzling me is the character of Ted the gay son who is deaf, is dating a gay African American. How in the world did this "gay" "black man" so easily assimilate into this crappy family dynamic when they all have been so horrid to Meredith "Sarah Jessica Parker". Then start swapping and one night makes everyone fall in love with someone else.... Wow like that has not been done before, however, all the other films have had at least a little bit of character and plot development. I myself kept watching in hopes that this train wreck of a holiday film would improve, however, it did not. And I am very glad that I did not waste my time or money at the theater to see this film. Word to the wise don't bother watching.
a good film for the family
posted on 28 Aug 2009Bezucha's comedy/drama about an uptight woman(Parker) who visits her boyfriend's(Mulrooney) family for the first time on his annual family Christmas vacation and realizes that she is not compatible with the family. Although it had some great comedic scenes, i found Sarah Jessica Parker a bit annoying in this film and at times it was a bit boring and slow. But it had a great third act, and Danes, Keaton, McAdams, Mulroney and Luke Wilson were all great in it. It was a decent and enjoyable film, but i don't recommend repeat viewings. This is one of the better family/ romantic comedies out there. i recommend this one for family functions8/10
Well written, directed and acted
posted on 22 Aug 2009This is a very accomplished film from a director who had only had one outing before.Bringing a large family together at Christmas is always fraught with danger as there is a good chance that it won't work out as a pleasant experience. This movie uses this as a background to set up some solid situations.A fairly typical "disfunctional family" premise is enhanced by a wonderful performance from Dianne Keaton, interesting scenes of tension within the family unit and an intelligent treatment of an impending tragedy.
Some touching moments, but they tried too hard overall
posted on 14 Aug 2009I found this script to be predictable, the characters unbelievable, and the plot tedious.1. It seems like they tried to find every liberal stereotype, and put them into one family. The college professor,neurotic mother, recreational drug user/film critic, the gay son, the young activist. I just felt like they tried too hard to create a liberal family and overdid it.2. Where did Dermott Mulrooney's character fit into this family? He seemed to be the conservative one of the group.3.Sarah Jessica Parker's character was decent by concept, but they did seem to explore the character very well. Why would a woman who is so uptight that she won't even sleep in the same bed as her boyfriend in his parents, make the comments about homosexuality that she did. The whole scene was hard to understand, and a self conscious person like her would not have said anything about it. The whole scene seemed like a director with an agenda.4. For the life of me, I could not figure out why they disliked her to begin with. It seemed they were awfully judgemental about her; from the moment she walked in the door.5.The love rectangle ruined any credibility this movie had, and turned it into a bad soap opera.The mother having cancer angle I did get, but its pertinence to the story was not executed well. My mother is a breast cancer survivor, who downplayed the seriousness of her illness so as not to worry us kids. I understood that all the kids seemed to know that their mom was sick, and the emotion when they brought those feelings to the surface was good. The scene with her and her husband in bed was also well done. They rest of the movie seemed to make this powerful angle an afterthought, and really just detracted from it.The movie was a waste of the talent of the cast
Talented actors have fun with a familiar premise
posted on 14 Aug 2009The premise of "The Family Stone" sounds a little shopworn: Everett Stone brings his uptight girlfriend Meredith home for Christmas to meet his large family, who instantly dislike her. Even worse, the trailer reveals most of the plot's complications. However, this premise has been used so often because it reliably provides opportunities for comedy, drama, and insight into family dynamics. "The Family Stone" proves itself a better-than-average example of the genre because of its talented cast and reasonably intelligent script.Sarah Jessica Parker's presence ensures that Meredith always remains sympathetic, even when we can also perfectly understand why she irritates the Stones. The various Stones-- Diane Keaton, Craig T. Nelson, Dermot Mulroney, Rachel McAdams, Luke Wilson--make the most of their roles, and, more importantly, they really do start to seem like a family, not a random collection of actors. The only actor who fails to make an impression is Claire Danes, who can't do much with the underwritten role of Meredith's sister Julie."The Family Stone" is not a groundbreaking movie, but it goes beyond the fish-out-of-water clichés that its plot might suggest. It finds the emotional truth, as well as the humor, in Meredith's situation. Plus, it's extremely evenhanded: all of the characters are flawed but likable, and in a climactic argument at the dinner table, both Meredith and Sibyl make valid points. Reviewers on this site have accused the movie of pushing a liberal agenda via its sympathetic portrayal of an interracial gay couple and a semi-bohemian family--and of pushing a conservative agenda via its portrayal of the Stones as hypocritical liberals who pay lip service to tolerance but are prejudiced against people like Meredith. Personally, I'm not sure if "The Family Stone" has any agenda, other than to cast good actors in a holiday comedy-drama that doesn't insult its audience's intelligence. And it succeeds pretty well at that.
Good way to spend a couple hours
posted on 08 Aug 2009I enjoyed this movie. The trailer is a bit misleading because there is as much drama as there is comedy. I didn't have a problem with the character development and I related to Meredith's plight. It can be tough meeting your boyfriends family. I also found that the film confirmed some of my romantic notions, for example, we are attracted to those who see a the most hidden parts of us; the parts we keep hidden our to fear. If you have a large family you will also find plenty to relate to. The actors are well cast. I enjoyed Craig T. Nelson in this role. Sarah Jessica Parker is far from Carrie Bradshaw in this movie. She is a great comedic actress and I really found myself routing for her character.I recommend this movie and my husband loved it too.
I did not like this movie except for Sarah Jessica & Luke Wilson
posted on 04 Aug 2009Too many social issues. Certainly not an uplifting holiday movie. Sarah Jessica Parker and Luke Wilson's characters and talent were the exception. The characters that you are suppose to believe are off kilter are the only "normal" ones. Sexual orientation, race, handicap (and that's just one couple), illness, hippie parents, meanness. It was just too much! Some nice moments and a good beginning. I'd like to think that most people are much more considerate of others that this movie would like you to believe. A few laughs, here and there. I think it could have been a good movie, the social issues and genuine meanness interfere.
Unfocused Mess
posted on 04 Aug 2009This film has an abundance of acting talent. I thought Sarah Jessica Parker was brilliant as the uptight Meredith. But that abundance actually translates into too much. This film didn't know what it was about and tries to deal with so many issues that the characterizations that drive the story are lost.Basically, the favorite son brings his inappropriate fiancé to meet his family for Christmas. There are two important relationships developed in the film, between Dermot Mulroney and Claire Danes (his fiancé's sister) and between Sarah Jessica Parker and Luke Wilson (Mulroney's brother and his brother's fiancé). Clare Danes gets one scene in which she tells a long story about a totem pole in Alaska to show Mulroney falling in love with her. Sarah Jessica Parker gets one scene to change from a tense, insecure career-woman into Luke Wilson's relaxed party girl. It not enough and the relationships are therefore unconvincing.Mixed in with the change of partners scenario is a mother dying of breast cancer who deflects emotional moments with inappropriate laughter and talks about the man who popped her daughter's cherry. There is another son who is deaf, gay, in an inter-racial relationship, and is adopting a child. There's a daughter pining for the guy who popped her cherry. There's also Elizabeth Reaser as a pregnant daughter who really has no place in the movie at all; she could have been left on the cutting room floor and no one would have noticed (her performance was excellent, just not necessary in an already crowded cast).The editors did their best to pull all this nonsense into a coherent story, but ended up truncating the important parts and leaving us with an unfocused mess.
Not a bad movie but...
posted on 31 Jul 2009This movie had a pretty good story line and some pretty good acting, on the other hand, it was the typical politically correct Hollywood bullcrap, nonsense. Trying to teach that being gay is OK and that gay adoption is perfectly normal and it portrayed the Conservative as the abnormal one of the bunch. Once again Hollywood attempts to sway the way normal people think. Sara Jessica Parker, who portrayed the ultra- conservative, almost seemed like the villain in this film.There were a couple of redeeming qualities in the movie, the ending, coupled with Dermit Mulroney's acting abilities and the fantastic song, "Right back where we started from."
Kleenex Movie
posted on 31 Jul 2009Not that we need another comment on this movie, sheesh. My wife and I saw the trailer for this movie at the theater and both gave it two naaaaahs. We were wrong, this is a real sleeper movie. I enjoyed the acting, story, and wonderful full-circle ending. The movie is all wrapped-up for you in the end and needed to be that way. The director could have left you craving or wondering at the end, but instead, lets us in all the way. Some of the comments about this movie are unnecessarily vicious and should be tossed out for such venal prejudice. The Stone family parents were obviously grown up hippies that retained their quirky, out-in-the-open, liberal-minded lifestyle. Accept that, mean posters...they aren't normal people; in fact, they are quite functional dysfunctionals. Does that make sense? Enough! See it, and have a box of hankies nearby.
horrible film. maybe a star for effort....
posted on 29 Jul 2009I was expecting so much more from this film based off of the trailers and promotions. But I guess this movie really goes to show that just having an amazing cast cannot save a film.The timing was bad, the humor had some occasional moments but they were few and far between. The premise seemed to be a sort of Meet the Parents type story, but then just went berserk. I suppose in some of sadistic type way you actually enjoy the family's dislike of Meredith. She really does seem like an easy to hate type of person.The writing was terrible, the story was erratic and impractical, and lets not even go on with the character development... because there was none. Basically it seemed like this movie decided it didn't need character development, instead it could just bank on the previous roles that are associated with the cast.Everyone in the film just kind of played another version of themselves from their previous movies/TV series. Sarah Jessica Parker reprises her role as Carrie from Sex and the City, only this time her name is Meredith. She is taken to her boyfriend, insert the Dermott Mulroney character of your choice (whether it be him from My Best Friend's Wedding or Wedding Date...), home for the holidays. There she meets his family. Which includes Rachel McAdams as her Mean Girls character, and Luke Wilson in a sort of blend of his role from Home Fries meets Royal Tenenbaums. Top it all off with Diane Keaton as the matriarch of the family which we've seen countless times... oh and also a guest appearance from Claire Danes being the Shopgirl...The relationships lack any feeling at all, and thus any believability, leaving you feeling absolutely nothing in the end. Well maybe a burning sort of hate and discomfort. One that makes you need to go out and write a review about just how bad you felt this film was.Ugh, even as I sit here writing this I'm thinking I may have rated it too high...
Two movies?
posted on 29 Jul 2009I have a theory that there must be two movies of the same name, with the same actors, characters - maybe different endings, having read the comments so far. Don't' tell me how boring it would be if we were all the same! I cannot believe how rude the family Stone were to this poor nervous idiotic girl from the big city. Mother in particular, was keen to put the boot in, describing her as "that woman" who will inherit the family heirloom wedding ring if she marries the presumably eldest son, who is not a huge catch anyway, any more than the ring - totally devoid of loyalty to the girl whom he has just hurled into a viper's nest, and eager to get on over-friendly terms with her sister, who also seems to lack concern over her sibling's distress. Hold on there- this must run in the family, because the scruffy brother, who IS concerned about her welfare takes her out, gets her drunk off her face, and obviously ends up married to her (without the ring). I kept waiting for the funny bits - comedy to me implies laughter - but I was squirming with embarrassment for poor Meredith or raging against the family for most of the film. Disbelief was the strongest emotion.Anyway, it all ends up happily - mum dies, so everyone is nice to each other and dad found a tree for the next Christmas. Families, eh?
Waste of time!
posted on 27 Jul 2009I was so excited to see this film when I saw the trailers. It looked very funny and I loved every actor in it. Unfortunately, the hubby and I never made it to the theater to see it. I was flipping through my movie channels at home and was so excited to see that The Family Stone would be playing this week. I was FINALLY going to be able to see this movie that I had waited almost two years to watch. I tivoed the movie last night and sat down to watch it this afternoon.Oh my goodness! I want my two hours back!! I'm so thankful that we didn't spend any money on this awful movie. I'm even more thankful that the hubby didn't watch it with me because he would never have let me live it down. It was horrible. H-O-R-R-I-B-L-E. Please don't waste your time.
A Beautiful Surprise
posted on 27 Jul 2009I started to watch this movie, expecting a comedy. I was surprised. This isn't necessarily a Christmas comedy. Sarah Jessica Parker is perfectly cast for the role of Meredith. Diane Keaton and Craig T. Nelson make the perfect parents for this little "dysfunctional" family. This movie has quite the star-studded cast. I personally think Luke is a better actor than Owen, but that may just be me. I thought it would be all about the Meredith/Everett romance, but it is more about the Stone family coming together over the Christmas holiday. It was a good movie, totally different from what I was expecting. It is definitely well worth the watch.
Brownian Motion
posted on 21 Jul 2009This is staggeringly, cringingly bad stuff. Which way is it supposed to go? Screwball comedy? Tear-jerking, a la "Ordinary People"? Is it a sitcom? A star vehicle? There's no direction, just a random bouncing of the molecules.Compare this to something recent with a similar set up -- wintertime, star appeal, attractive container, similar ambitions -- such as "Serendipity"...that movie had charm. The plot and narrative was more than merely 'enough'; it was *centered*; there's a big difference. This has no center at all. It's as if the writing sessions themselves were charades; the writer/director simply left in everything, and called it a script. All we get here is airy sentiment, wrapped in a supposedly pretty Christmas bow (Mom's dead a year later, they're all reflectively content). Bleah.
More like "The Family GROAN"
posted on 19 Jul 2009The Family Stone is an all around depressing movie. Why would anyone care about such mean, unwelcoming, judgmental people? This movie tries to portray Sarah Jessica Parker's character as the narrow minded "conservative". This movie did just the opposite and showed the liberal "loving" family to be completely intolerant of anyone different then them. You cannot help but dislike most of the Stone family. The plot is utterly far fetched and not even in a good entertaining way. The one character you are not supposed to dislike (Meredith) was actually the most "likable." The dinner scene with Meredith asking a genuine question about homosexuality was so over the top I was rolling my eyes. The reaction of the family was unreal and ridiculous. Who acts like these people? This movie at times felt like a propaganda piece. There were so many mini plots that were just not the least bit believable or even tried to be.I cannot believe that actual good talent signed on for such a wasted lame, unbelievable, cold script. Diane Keaton is a good actress and does a good job in everything she is in. Unfortunately, her job was to portray a character completely unsympathetic and annoying. She made the best of what she could, I guess. This is definitely ONE TO MISS for the holidays
One of the best movies I saw all year
posted on 13 Jul 2009I suppose I'm biased, because add a couple of siblings and the Family Stone *is* the family I married into, but I haven't had this good of a time at a movie in a long, long time. And apparently, I wasn't the only one; I heard several male voices commenting on the way out of the theatre about what a really great movie that had been, they hadn't expected to like it at all but were glad they'd come (I got the impression they'd been "dragged to a chick flick" - but none of them seemed to regret it.) Through out the entire film, the whole audience (about 20 people for a matinée) were laughing. Family Stone was funny, poingant, sad, true to life... amazing. Honestly one of the best films I saw this year. As soon as it comes out on DVD, I'm going to get a copy for myself and my mother in law.
A light comedy about death
posted on 09 Jul 2009Meryl Streep pretty well wrote the book on how to play the gracious WASP mother dying nobly from cancer in "One True Thing" (1998) and Diane Keeton, capable actress that she is, does not have much to add here. While the plots are different the atmospheres of the two movies are remarkably similar. "The Family Stone" centres round a snowy New England family Christmas gathering while "One True Thing" had similar Christmas scenes. "One True Thing"was in the "return of the prodigal daughter" mode while "The Family Stone" is in the "meet the parents" genre, and is more of a comedy, and at the end of the day the slighter piece.Sarah Jessica Parker's tactless intruder Meredith is remarkably effective because her manners are so alien and because she just looks so different – a skinny anxious ball of energy out of place in a family of puddings. However Claire Danes as Meredith's sister Julie, enrolled for moral support, comes across as attractive but rather flat – neither one thing nor the other. Dermot Mulroney as Everett the son who brings this whirlwind home has a tendency to disappear from scenes he is in. He is of course under the handicap that his feckless brother Ben (Luke Wilson) has all the charm and charisma he lacks. Rachel McAdams is very good as Amy, the punchy younger Stone sister.I'm not sure why we had to have another brother Thad who is deaf and gay (with a black partner) – he is important to the story only for one (very good) line from Mum, in response to a real clanger from Meredith, when she says if she had the choice she would like her children fault-free. Mum says to him "we love you all the more dear' (which they clearly do). Dad, a college professor, played by Craig T Nelson, is an amiable sort not subject to the demons that pursued William Hurt's character in "One True Thing", but he tends to fade into the background also, along with the other sister whose husband is absent and the ambulance man who comes to Amy's rescue at the end.I think my basic problem is that though the storyline is neat and tidy, some characters simply drown out others; the script does not seem to allow for ensemble acting, and you finish up with a strong sense of some characters and very little of others even though some of the quieter parts are important to the story. The murky lighting did not help much either, even if it's authentic. Diane Keeton does a nice job as the saintly mum but it is not as an interesting a portrait as the great Meryl's portrayal, as noted earlier. "One True Thing" might have been more pretentious and had more big-name stars, but it also had the drama this movie lacks.
If you mix tragedy and fun, you have to know how
posted on 07 Jul 2009The movie contains a very serious plot part (cancer), which isn't worked into the story at all!!! Only a few movies manage to bridge this difficult combination of seriousness and laughter. This movie definitively doesn't. I am not the person to criticize every movie and I think criticism is often rather self promotion. But I registered extra here, because that movie annoyed me. This is not comparable to good fun/tragedy movies the class of Forrest Gump. Stay away from this one and watch a funny movie, if you want to laugh. Even the comedy scenes aren't as fun as Meet the parents or the same years 40-year old virgin.
Delightful and resonant
posted on 30 Aug 2009This story of a tense, and self-conscious young woman meeting her prospective in-laws for the first time would go on any top ten list I would ever care to create. I feel sorry for the multitude of critics who can only focus on this movie's embrace of sentiment, broad comedy, and occasionally contrived situations. But the contrivances are both necessary and acceptable in the service of larger aims, and the depictions of family tensions, especially those experienced around the holiday season, are the most painfully recognizable, yet sympathetically and humorously depicted I've ever seen. Their effect is to show us that even the most wounding family crises can also be, at heart, transformative, and in retrospect, even funny.The performances are top-notch all around, the script is superlative, and the direction is energetic and assured. The sentiment so derided by critics, I think realistically and at times, uncomfortably depicts us both at our best and at our worst, and I was often crying, laughing, and cringing at the same time -- not an easy trick. The theater was packed, and the people around me were having similar responses. You must approach this movie with a willingness to let go and honestly feel whatever you feel for a couple of hours. If you're looking for an intellectual chat, perhaps this movie is not for you. But if you're looking for a smart, entertaining, and honest look at family traditions and idiosyncrasies -- their downsides as well as their upsides -- and if, as I do, you adore great acting and great writing -- then you'll love this movie.