The Family Stone
Screenplay by Thomas Bezucha.
Directed by Thomas Bezucha.
Beverly Hills, CA: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, c2006.
- Starring:
- Claire Danes
- Diane Keaton
- Rachel McAdams
- Sarah Jessica Parker
- Dermot Mulroney
- Luke Wilson
- Craig T. Nelson
I thought my family had the market cornered on dysfunctional family Christmases! The fights we've had...ah, nothing compared to this family. Everett brings his girlfriend Meredith home to meet his family...and pop the question -- when she's never met most of his family. Already, you're asking yourself "what is this guy thinking?". The Family Stone is a very liberal family who can't accept a neurotic, insecure, workaholic city girl. Only one sister has met Meredith and took an instant dislike to her 'uptightness'. The stories and impersonations manage to turn everyone against Meredith before she even gets in the door. In panic and despair, Meredith calls and asks her sister to come for Christmas. From there the plot just goes downhill.
I didn't really like this movie. They tried to make you sympathetic to the family but the mother and daughter are just b****y. They're supposed to be wild and wacky and supportive of alternative choices but are very close-minded when it comes to someone who doesn't fit their ideals. I felt very sorry for the main character, having felt that awkwardness and fear of rejection myself. But the rest of the movie just wasn't plausible to me. Or if it was, it certainly explains why Meredith felt like everyone hated her. I won't totally wreck the movie by saying what happens, although it's apparent as soon as her sister gets off the bus but in real life, there'd never be family get-togethers again.