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The Family Stone (2005)

tomatometer

52

Average Rating: 5.9/10
Reviews Counted: 151
Fresh: 78 | Rotten: 73

This family holiday dramedy features fine performances but awkward shifts of tone.

58

Average Rating: 6.1/10
Critic Reviews: 36
Fresh: 21 | Rotten: 15

This family holiday dramedy features fine performances but awkward shifts of tone.

audience

63

liked it
Average Rating: 3.2/5
User Ratings: 383,836

My Rating

Movie Info

A woman meets her future in-laws and discovers they don't much care for her in this comedy from writer and director Thomas Bezucha. Everett Stone (Dermot Mulroney) is a successful young businessman who is dating Meredith Morton (Sarah Jessica Parker), and has asked her to spend Christmas with his family, with plans to ask his mother, Sybil (Diane Keaton), for the titular family wedding band and propose to Meredith on Christmas Day. Meredith is more than a bit nervous about meeting Everett's

PG-13, 1 hr. 43 min.

Drama, Comedy

,

May 2, 2006

$59.9M

20th Century Fox Distribution

Cast

All Critics (159) | Top Critics (36) | Fresh (82) | Rotten (73) | DVD (22)

I can't deny the incidental pleasures of watching these talented players giving it their all, even in such a misguided project.

January 5, 2006 Full Review Source: New York Observer | Comment
New York Observer
Top Critic IconTop Critic

It's worth two hours for those who appreciate this kind of workmanlike, low-risk drama.

December 17, 2005 Full Review Source: ReelViews | Comment
ReelViews
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A feel-bad holiday film about a repellent family, with a milquetoast dad and a smug, devious harpy of a mom.

December 16, 2005 Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | Comment
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic IconTop Critic

This is one busy wannabe heart-tugger.

December 16, 2005 Full Review Source: USA Today | Comment
USA Today
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The Family Stone is a lot slyer than you might expect.

December 16, 2005 Full Review Source: Toronto Star | Comment
Toronto Star
Top Critic IconTop Critic

There are cringe-worthy passages and an overly sentimental structure (everyone pairs up so very tidily), but the performances are delightful, and the picture comes together.

December 16, 2005 Full Review Source: Slate | Comment
Slate
Top Critic IconTop Critic

a gob of yuletide Play-Doh

August 17, 2010 Full Review Source: Cinema Writer | Comment
Cinema Writer

A very good drama comedy about family, life, and moving forward in the face of life changing events...

April 29, 2009 Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed | Comment
Cinema Crazed

Bittersweet Christmas story's plot won't resonate with younger teens.

July 24, 2008 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | Comment
Common Sense Media

The farcical elements are much too loaded to provide any real fun, and the Stones come off more as sanctimonious, politically correct left-wing prigs than enchanting.

March 1, 2007 Full Review Source: Film Journal International | Comment
Film Journal International

The movie feels a lot like slacker brother Ben: a little sloppy, mostly predictable, some flashes of poignancy and wisdom, but ultimately doesn't live up to its potential.

September 22, 2006 Comment

What's so refreshing about Thomas Bezucha's The Family Stone is how it plays off of genre expectations and effortlessly switches back and forth between comedy, romance and tragedy.

July 29, 2006 Full Review Source: Movie Views | Comment

Judging from the DVD cover %u2013 with someone flipping you the bird as they say %u2013 you'd probably be expecting some kind of cheeky comedy, but the movie is in fact nothing of the sort . . .

July 5, 2006 Comment
SA Movie & DVD Magazine

The Family Stone is more about how families fracture and mend themselves than it is about giving, sharing, or any of those traditional messages that are embedded in holiday films.

May 2, 2006 Comment
Reel.com

Tocante sem ser melodramático, desenvolve bem seus personagens, cujas interações soam sempre reais. Além disso, o filme oscila com segurança entre o drama e a comédia e conta com um elenco formidável.

April 14, 2006 Comment
Cinema em Cena

...turns from endearing to phony even before the first carol is sung.

February 21, 2006 Full Review | Comment
Denton Record Chronicle (TX)

.

February 17, 2006 Full Review Source: 3BlackChicks Review | Comment
3BlackChicks Review

Una comedia dramática absolutamente menor, con personajes potencialmente atractivos pero finalmente inverosímiles y estereotipados.

January 31, 2006 Full Review Source: Uruguay Total | Comment
Uruguay Total
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for The Family Stone

Completely underrated! Great film!

November 27, 2010
jamers2011
Jameson Worley

Super Reviewer

A cast full of talented people but the characters are so unpleasant why would you want to spend a hour with them.

March 26, 2007
jjnxn
jay nixon

Super Reviewer

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