Tanya Batson-Savage, Freelance Writer
The arrival of Meredith Morton (Sarah Jessica Parker) elicits different reactions from Stone family members Thad (Ty Giordano, left), Amy (Rachel McAdams), Elizabeth (Savannah Stehlin) and Ben (Luke Wilson) in the movie 'The Family Stone'. - CONTRIBUTED
THE FAMILY Stone is a mixture of the romantic comedy and the family drama. It is at moments sweet, at others touching but always interesting and engaging. Written and directed by Thomas Bezucha, the movie is a good addition to the cadre of Christmas flicks that celebrate love and family and the tangled webs they weave.
Though The Family Stone is a little like Meet the Parents it is a very different type of movie. It bears much more in common with While You Were Sleeping, though its take on romance is a little less generic, and a touch of 1994's Safe Passage.
The movie bears a very impressive cast, and they help to create a film that has texture, is able to handle emotion and still come across as funny. Sarah Jessica Parker plays the ultra-uptight Meredith Morton who travels with her boyfriend, Everett Stone (Dermot Mulroney), to his annual family dinner. Unfortunately for her, his family is a slightly eccentric one, and she becomes the proverbial fish with nary a drop of water in sight.
ANAL RETENTIVE WOMAN
Of course, when an evidently anal retentive woman, who needs to be cloaked in the trappings of the corporate world (including power suit and power cellular phone) to feel confident. The role is far tamer than Parker's outing as one of New York's most sexed up singles in HBO's Sex and the City. Her performance is far from brilliant, but she does well enough.
Mulroney and Luke Wilson bring two servings of (albeit ageing) eye candy while Claire Danes (Julie Morton), Diane Keaton (Sybil Stone), Rachel McAdams (Amy Stone), and Craig T. Nelson (Kelly Stone) complete the cast.
The best thing about the film is the realism with which the family is created. Though they are slightly eccentric, they are weird the way all families are weird to an outsider. Much of the focus on the family dynamic surrounds how Keaton's character, the matriarch of the family connects with her numerous children, and even their partners who come along for Christmas.
The film's name connects the two layers of love that it explores with reasonable success, family love (their name is Stone) and romantic love as the various siblings connect with their various romantic partners. It then combines these two by looking at how family interferes, for better or for worse with attempts at romance.
WITTILY WRITTEN
The flick is very wittily written and so ought to have much appeal for the funny bone. The film is allowed to be interesting because all the members of the family are so different, though they are clearly connected. There is also some interesting camera work and Bezucha does a generally good job of direction.
The Family Stone is easily worth every one of its 102 minutes, which pass quite easily as one finds oneself falling for the characters. The film is lovely and funny. It's a great way to get in touch with the romantic sap in you.
