So, despite its flaws, there is plenty to like, just like any family.
The Family Stone (2005)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:147
Fresh:77
Rotten:70
Average Rating:5.9/10
Consensus: This family holiday dramedy features fine performances but awkward shifts of tone.
Rated: PG-13 [See Full Rating] for some sexual content including dialogue, and drug references.
Runtime: 1 hr 46 mins
Genre: Comedies
Theatrical Release:Dec 16, 2005 Wide
Box Office: $59,856,288
Synopsis: Destined to be a Christmas classic, Thomas Bezucha's dazzling dramedy, THE FAMILY STONE, manages to be both warmhearted and sentimental while possessing a razor-sharp hilarious mean streak. The... Destined to be a Christmas classic, Thomas Bezucha's dazzling dramedy, THE FAMILY STONE, manages to be both warmhearted 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. 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 affectionate and respectful. When Meredith's humorless aura infects the homestead, it is mom Sybil and sister Amy (Rachel McAdams), who sense a romantic mismatch and attack her venomously, sparking a tete-a-tete-a-tete between three feisty females. While this Battle Royal is waged, dramatic subplots brew in the background, 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. [More]
Starring: Claire Danes, Diane Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Sarah Jessica Parker
Starring: Claire Danes, Diane Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Sarah Jessica Parker, Dermot Mulroney, Luke Wilson, Tyrone Giordano, Brian White, Elizabeth Reazer, Savannah Stehlin, Paul Schneider
Director: Thomas Bezucha
Director: Thomas Bezucha
Producer: Michael London
Studio: 20th Century Fox
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Reviews for The Family Stone
This film is clearly a vehicle for Parker. We wouldn't want to waste all the "Sex and the City" steam now would we?
As a comedy, The Family Stone is more easy listening than rock-and-roll, but some of the performances (notably from McAdams and Nelson) are comfortable and affecting.
Moments of high hilarity and cringe-inducing honesty are scattered throughout The Family Stone.
Even with an empty tank of ideas by the end of the picture, Stone still remains worthy of a view, providing that desired blast of familial idiosyncrasies just in time for the holiday season.
It plays almost like Terms of Endearment crossed with the feel-good yule romance Love Actually.
The Family Stone shows us the world through several different sets of eyes, and, by the end, we see exactly what they see.
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.
It feels forcibly formulaic and yet sort of daringly original, all at the same time.
With intelligence and unforced spirit to spare, The Family Stone is that rare widely commercial motion picture worth embracing.
If this movie doesn't put you in the Christmas spirit, you're either dead...or Jewish.
Taking the fish out of water concept to the extreme, this old-fashioned holiday comedy tries to revive Capra's zany screwball comedies like You Can't Take It With You
While some may roll their eyes at the outrageous fantasyland the Stones live in, others will look at it with wistfulness. Either way, it's a fun place.
Bezucha's film accurately captures the forlorn hysteria of those few days when love should be the primary emotion and not judgmental claustrophobia.
A terrific screwball comedy in its own right, like a more erudite Meet the Parents.
Gleefully irreverent and proudly offbeat in its rhythmic mix of pluckiness and pathos, Bezucha's festive family farce is up front and center.
A funny and emotionally resonant family drama about the value of seeing everyone as a work in progress and transcending our provisional and limited judgments of them.
Latest News for The Family Stone
February 01, 2007:
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December 14, 2006:
Box Office Guru Preview: Dragons and Webs Duke It Out at Theaters
Hollywood studios try to inject some juice into the North American box office this weekend by unleashing three big new releases aimed at getting people back into the habit of... More...
December 07, 2006:
Box Office Guru Preview: Mel, Cameron, & Leo Battle For #1 Spot
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December 19, 2005:
Big Ape Swings Through the Weekend Box Office
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| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 44% 44% | Night at the Museum: B… |
| 32% 32% | Terminator Salvation |
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| 95% 95% | Star Trek |
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|---|---|
| 83% 83% | Harry Potter and the H… |
| 67% 67% | Public Enemies |
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