CORPORATE LINE: 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.
THE REVIEW: The cast is good if not missing some tangible ingredient. Do you know what its like to eat a soup and its missing a certain spice or something else that could kick it up a notch? That’s The Family Stone.
The Family Stone doesn’t take on anything unique or extremely interesting. The topics are flat even if there are the rare occasions that keep your interest. Then again, it’s the characters that keep the film spinning its tires.
FAMILY STONE
THE EXTRAS:
The commentary by director Thomas Bezucha, Editor Jeffrey Ford, producer Michael London, and production designer Jane Ann Stewart goes indepth with the film’s cast and production. The commentary by Dermont Mulroney and Sarah Jessica Parker is terribly dry.
“Fox Movie Channel presents Casting Session” – A decent featurette that is much too short. There are a few fluffy interviews with the cast and crew.
“Behind the Scenes” – This featurette goes further in-depth than the Fox Casting Session. It’s hard to stick with the featurette if the film did nothing for you.
Finally, there is a gag reel and some deleted scenes.
FRANKLY: The Family Stone never keeps its momentum throughout the film. It’s hard not to let your mind wander and that’s not a positive for any movie.
+ Charlie Craine
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