After seeing previews for The Family Stone, I decided that I wanted to see it. I like the cast and the movie looked like it would be a funny Christmas movie. The movie turned out to be a bit different from what I expected, but I did still enjoy it.
Meredith Morton was going to spend Christmas with her boyfriend Everett and his family. She had only met one of his sisters, Amy, before and they didn’t like each other. Meredith was nervous about meeting the rest of the family. At the Stone family home, Amy, Susannah, and Thad had arrived. Their other brother Ben was expected later in the day. Amy took great delight in running Meredith down to the rest of the family. Meredith was a very reserved person and not use to the way the Stone family acted with each other. Ben at least seemed to be trying to make Meredith feel welcome once he arrived. Kelly, Everett’s dad, at least managed to act like he was welcoming to her most of the time. Meredith ended up feeling so uncomfortable at the house that she checked into a local inn and called her sister Julie to be with her. Everett was furious with his family, especially his mother, Sybil, because of her refusal to do something she had promised him in the past. The family was very welcoming to Julie when she arrived which only made Meredith feel like more of an outsider.
After seeing The Family Stone, I feel like the trailers and previews I’ve seen were misleading. They made the movie seem like it was strictly a funny Christmas movie, so that is what I was expecting. I was surprised that it was more serious than I thought it would be. I think it was more of a drama than a comedy. There were some very funny scenes, but there were also some deeper, emotional issues included in the movie as well. There was more going on with the Stone family, and one member in particular, than was apparent at first. It was gradually shown exactly what was going on in a few emotionally powerful scenes that did help to explain a few things. The emotional and sad scenes could be upsetting to some viewers. I am being vague about this aspect of the movie because I don’t want to spoil the movie for anyone interested in seeing it. I do think that people should know it isn’t strictly a comedy like the trailers portrayed it. People going into this movie in the mood for a light-hearted comedy will more than likely be disappointed because this just isn’t that type of movie.
Most of the funny things were connected to Meredith’s trouble fitting in with Everett’s family. She wasn’t really cold, but she wasn’t affectionate and out going either. She was rather stiff and reserved, which was completly the opposite of the Stone family. Some members of the family, like Amy, were more out spoken than others. Meredith’s reactions to some of the things the family said or did were funny. Everett’s family had a unique way of interacting that did cause some funny moments. There were a few silly things done for humor, like the disaster that happened in the kitchen late in the movie, without the entire movie feeling really silly. Every character had at least one reaction to something that caused laughs. Later in the movie Kelly had more than one reaction like that. I had hoped that the movie would be more funny before I saw it, but I still felt that it was entertaining. The humor was more subtle most of the time.
Christmas played an important part in The Family Stone. The movie started a few days before Christmas with everyone arriving at the Stone family house. It seemed to be a tradition for the family to spend the holiday together. There were some decorations at the house, though it wasn’t over done. I only remember one Christmas song playing during the movie, and that was during the opening credits. Christmas morning was shown, along with the opening of some presents. Meredith didn’t seem to be as much in the holiday spirit as some of the other characters, but she did try to contribute to the day by fixing a dish that was traditional in her family for breakfast on Christmas day. She also took the time to have presents for everyone in the family. Some funny things did happen that day. Even though the movie took place at Christmas, it wasn’t a typical fun, light hearted, happy Christmas movie since there were some more serious moments as well. People that are in the mood for a more happy Christmas will probably end up at least somewhat disappointed with this movie. It is still enjoyable and worth seeing. Someone just could end up very disappointed if they went into watching it expecting something else.
Meredith and Everett were involved when the movie started. She did explain how they met, though it wasn’t really clear exactly how long they had known each other. She wouldn’t stay in his room at the house and there were no sex scenes between them. They barely touched each other, and Meredith seemed uncomfortable with anything that seemed like a public display of affection even if it was just touching Everett’s arm while his family was around. Sybil and Kelly shared a very tender, loving, emotional scene together. There was no nudity, though Ben was shown wearing only a towel once. There was more than one discussion about sex in some way. Sybil was very open about that sort of thing with her children and shocked Meredith by talking about Amy’s first sexual experience. Some people may be uncomfortable with those discussions even though they really weren’t that explicit. Drug use was mentioned a few times as well. I have a feeling the frank nature of some of the conversations played a part in the movie being rated PG-13. This isn’t a movie for children to see. Even without those conversations, there really isn’t anything in the movie that would interest children.
The Family Stone contained many characters so there wasn’t enough time to fully develop all of them. Meredith was probably the main character since the movie was mostly dealing with how she was accepted by the Stone family and dealt with what was going on. She was nervous about meeting that many members of Everett’s family at one time and that nervousness seemed to make her tense up even more. She had hang ups and wasn’t comfortable in most of the situations she found her self in at the Stone family home. She tried so hard to get them to like her and she usually ended up messing up in some way. She got her sister Julie to come so she wouldn’t feel so left out, but that backfired when the family all accepted her right away and still left Meredith feeling like she didn’t belong. Meredith wasn’t a bad person. She just messed up at times. I really liked Sarah Jessica Parker in this part. I’ve never seen her play a character like this before. She made the character work and was very believable in the part. Parker is probably most known for playing Carrie, a very different type of character, on Sex in the City. Parker has been nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance in this movie. Julie was only in a few scenes. She seemed like a likable person. Claire Danes was fine in the part, but probably just about anyone would have been since the part was so small. She had a larger part in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.
The members of the Stone family were all in several scenes without any of them being developed much at all. Everett wanted his family to accept Meredith and he was very upset by the way she was treated. Even when he was upset with his family, it was clear that he did love them. Dermot Mulroney was fine in the part. Amy was the only person in the family that had met Meredith before she arrived with Everett. Amy seemed to enjoy running Meredith down and making her feel uncomfortable and not welcome. It wasn’t really explained why Amy had taken such a dislike to Meredith. Amy really wasn’t a bad person, but she could be subtly nasty. Rachel McAdams was very good in the part. This makes the third movie I’ve seen her in this year. She played very different parts in Wedding Crashers and Red Eye.
Ben made a few jokes and comments around Meredith at first, but he didn’t dislike her as much as the rest of the family seemed to. Ben tried to make her feel welcome and he did his best to make her feel better after something went wrong during a meal. He wasn’t as judgmental as others in his family appeared to be. Luke Wilson was very good in the part. The part of Ben was larger than the one he had in the Legally Blonde movies or Around the World in 80 Days. Susannah was married with a daughter and another baby on the way. Her husband wasn’t able to join the family until Christmas day. She wasn’t as outspoken as Amy, and ended up with a smaller part. Elizabeth Reaser was fine in the part. I think Thad was deaf. I know he had some kind of problem with his hearing, but I’m not sure if he was completly deaf since he did wear hearing aides. He wasn’t as critical of Meredith as some of the others, though he still didn’t think Everett should be with her. Tyrone Giordano was good in the part. Thad’s boyfriend, Patrick, was also around for Christmas.
Sybil and Kelly were Everett’s parents. They were curious about Meredith before they actually met her. They were both friendly to Meredith when she arrived, though they weren’t exactly sure what to think. Kelly mentioned that he didn’t know what Everett saw in her when talking to Sybil once and he did get upset when Meredith ended up saying the wrong thing once. Even with those things, he seemed to be more accepting of her than Sybil was. Kelly wasn’t as out spoken as his wife. Sybil wasn’t as nice to Meredith as she could have been for most of the movie. She had her reasons for why she was acting the way she did. Sybil just wanted Everett to be happy. Sybil was open to talking about sex with her children and thought it was strange that Meredith wouldn’t sleep in Everett’s room. Diane Keaton and Craig T. Nelson were wonderful in the parts. They were believable as a couple that had been married for years and raised four children. Keaton’s part was a bit smaller than the one she had in Something's Gotta Give. Nelson provided a voice in 2004's The Incredibles. The actors that played the members of the Stone family were believable as a family.
Main CAST
Claire Danes - Julie
Tyrone Giordano - Thad
Diane Keaton - Sybil
Rachael McAdams - Amy
Craig T. Nelson - Kelly
Sarah Jessica Parker - Meredith
Brian White - Patrick
Luke Wilson - Ben
Thomas Bezucha - Writer and Director
The Family Stone was different from what I expected, but it was still a very entertaining movie. It is more of a chick flick than comedy or even Christmas movie. If people keep that in mind, this can be an enjoyable movie. I was a bit disappointed that it wasn’t as funny as the trailers made it out to be, but I still ended up liking the movie over all and think it is worth seeing. Fans of the cast should give this one a chance.
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