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The Family Stone

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The Family Stone (2005)

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Reviews Counted:34

Fresh:20

Rotten:14

Average Rating:6.1/10

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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Release:

Apr 21, 2009

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Reviews for The Family Stone

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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I can’t deny the incidental pleasures of watching these talented players giving it their all, even in such a misguided project.

Full Review Source: New York Observer | comment Comment
01/05/06
Andrew Sarris
Andrew Sarris
New York Observer
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It's worth two hours for those who appreciate this kind of workmanlike, low-risk drama.

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment Comment
12/17/05
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews
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A feel-bad holiday film about a repellent family, with a milquetoast dad and a smug, devious harpy of a mom.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
12/16/05
Mick LaSalle
Mick LaSalle
San Francisco Chronicle
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This is one busy wannabe heart-tugger.

Full Review Source: USA Today | comment Comment
12/16/05
Mike Clark
Mike Clark
USA Today
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The Family Stone is a lot slyer than you might expect.

Full Review Source: Toronto Star | comment Comment
12/16/05
Susan Walker
Susan Walker
Toronto Star
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The Family Stone is a satisfying, big-hearted celebration of diversity that will brighten holiday moviegoing - - at least in the blue states.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
12/16/05
Lou Lumenick
Lou Lumenick
New York Post
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Good acting only goes so far to salvage a bad script.

Full Review Source: Newark Star-Ledger | comment Comment
12/16/05
Lisa Rose
Lisa Rose
Newark Star-Ledger
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A machine-tooled entertainment that's as fake and flimsy as a plastic Christmas tree.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
12/16/05
Jami Bernard
Jami Bernard
New York Daily News
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It plays almost like Terms of Endearment crossed with the feel-good yule romance Love Actually.

Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
12/16/05
Bruce Westbrook
Bruce Westbrook
Houston Chronicle
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So check your disbelief at the door, bring along a mini-packet of Kleenex, and brace yourself for Two-Ply and the Family Stone.

Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
12/16/05
Rick Groen
Rick Groen
Globe and Mail
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What was supposed to be a jewel turns out to be a simple Christmas trinket.

Full Review Source: Detroit News | comment Comment
12/16/05
Tom Long
Tom Long
Detroit News
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When The Family Stone did touch me, I had such mixed feelings, I half-wished the movie had kept its hands to itself.

Full Review Source: Denver Rocky Mountain News | comment Comment
12/16/05
Robert Denerstein
Robert Denerstein
Denver Rocky Mountain News
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Suddenly we're wiping away tears, glancing around to make sure no one noticed we had fallen for this steaming cup of melodrama.

Full Review Source: Denver Post | comment Comment
12/16/05
Michael Booth
Michael Booth
Denver Post
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The movie is a holiday romantic comedy that wants to put the holiday romantic comedy out of business.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
12/16/05
Wesley Morris
Wesley Morris
Boston Globe
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This is a family, and a movie, where everyone talks at once -- and more often than you'd think, its characters actually come up with something worth saying.

Full Review Source: Salon.com | comment Comment
12/15/05
Stephanie Zacharek
Stephanie Zacharek
Salon.com
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The movie's warmth is contagious. Too bad its humor isn't.

Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | comment Comment
12/15/05
Jeff Strickler
Jeff Strickler
Minneapolis Star Tribune
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Hollywood is always making family comedies, but they are rarely about real families: relations who are as difficult as they are wonderful, people who both love and irritate the heck out of each other. Families like The Family Stone.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
12/15/05
Kenneth Turan
Kenneth Turan
Los Angeles Times
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A lump of coal brightened by four diamond-sharp performances.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Inquirer | comment Comment
12/15/05
Carrie Rickey
Carrie Rickey
Philadelphia Inquirer
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This is pleasing holiday fare that may stay with you through the first months of 2006.

Full Review Source: Dallas Morning News | comment Comment
12/15/05
Philip Wuntch
Philip Wuntch
Dallas Morning News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

There are many ways to define the shrieking awfulness of The Family Stone, from the general lack of wit to the cheap exploitation of cancer to its casual cruelty.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
12/15/05
Stephen Hunter
Stephen Hunter
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
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