The Family Stone (2005) 20th Century Fox/Comedy-Drama RT: 104 minutes Rated PG-13 (language, some sexual content including dialogue, drug references) Director: Thomas Bezucha Screenplay: Thomas Bezucha Music: Michael Giacchino Cinematography: Jonathan Brown Release date: December 16, 2005 (US) Cast: Claire Danes, Diane Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Dermot Mulroney, Craig T. Nelson, Sarah Jessica Parker, Luke Wilson, Ty Giordano, Brian White, Elizabeth Reaser, Paul Schneider, Savannah Stehlin, Jamie Kaler, Robert Dioguardi. Box Office: $60M (US)/$92.2M (World)
Rating: ***
Anymore, Christmas and dysfunctional families go together like peanut butter and jelly. Technically, the Stone family isn’t dysfunctional. It isn’t until an outsider is brought into their circle that the trouble begins. They take an instant dislike to the uptight girlfriend of the straight-laced eldest son, making it clear she doesn’t belong.
Yes, The Family Stone is one of those comedies that gets its laughs at the expense of somebody trying and constantly failing to make a good impression. I’m not a huge fan of such movies; I feel uncomfortable watching situations in which the well-meaning protagonist ends up humiliated again and again in front of others. This happens often in The Family Stone and normally I’d go off on a movie like that. Not this time. There’s more to this movie than what I just described, but I’ll get to that momentarily. In general, I like The Family Stone, but it’s not without its flaws like its high predictability factor. How can I explain this? Read further, I’ll explain as we go along.
It’s Christmas and the Stone family is gathering at their New England home. This year, there’ll be an additional guest. That would be Meredith (Parker, Sex and the City), the tightly-wound Manhattan business executive that eldest son Everett (Mulroney, My Best Friend’s Wedding) has been seeing for a while. She’s a sharp contrast to their liberal ways and sticks out like a sore thumb. While there, he intends to ask his mother Sybil (Keaton, Annie Hall) for his grandmother’s ring as he plans to propose to Meredith. The hostility begins almost instantly. Youngest child Amy (McAdams, The Notebook) met Meredith previously and took an instant dislike to her. It becomes so uncomfortable that Meredith does two things: (1) stays at the local inn instead of with the family and (2) asks her sister Julie (Danes, Romeo + Juliet) to join her for emotional support. Things become even more complicated when she arrives on the scene.
Now to address the stuff I mentioned earlier. The romance angle in The Family Stone isn’t anything new. We’ve see it all before and pretty much know what’s going to happen by movie’s end. If it isn’t obvious from the get-go that Everett and Meredith aren’t meant for one another, then the scene where she insists on sleeping in separate rooms at the family home should be a big tip-off. When his slacker brother Ben (Wilson, The Royal Tenenbaums) shows up and hits it off with Meredith, it’s not much of a shocker. Neither is Everett and Julie making an obvious connection. There may as well have been a huge neon sign with flashing letters indicating the inevitable romantic switcheroo.
You pretty much see every dramatic development coming from a mile off which brings me to the factor that separates The Family Stone from similar movies like Meet the Parents. It turns out Sybil is terminally ill and may not live to see another Christmas. So there is a serious side to The Family Stone which would be fine if not for the abrupt shifts in tone. Director Thomas Bezucha (Monte Carlo) fails to maintain the delicate balance necessary for such a film to work.
But here’s the damnest thing about The Family Stone. Somehow, it works. It works better than it should anyway. The first half is difficult to watch with the Stones treating their guest horribly. A game of charades becomes strained and uncomfortable. A conversation around the dinner table turns nasty after Meredith unintentionally makes offensive comments. The worst thing is Everett doesn’t even try to defend her. Again I ask, are these two really meant for each other?
At that point, I was ready to give up on The Family Stone. Then the funniest thing happened. I started getting into it around the time the characters started figuring out a few truths. By the end, it even became sort of sweet. I know, I should dismiss it as insincere and manipulative, but I bought into it. The movie has a few decent screwball scenes even if you see them coming. For example, Meredith goes to a lot of trouble preparing a special breakfast for the family. It has to sit in the refrigerator overnight. You just know it will never make it to the table. More likely, it will wind up on the floor or all over somebody (or both). Well, I’m not going to tell you everything that happens!
The ensemble cast does a very good job. I have to say it’s one of the best ensembles I’ve seen in a movie. They all play so well off of each other. Craig T. Nelson (Parenthood) does a particularly good job as the Stone family patriarch as does Ty Giordano (A Lot Like Love) as the gay, deaf son.
Overall, The Family Stone is a pretty good movie. It has a pretty great soundtrack and makes great use of Jefferson Starship’s “Count on Me”. Despite its premise, it’s easier to take than you’d think. Not a bad choice for a holiday comedy-drama.
