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Solid work from Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon isn't enough to save Stepmom from a story whose manipulations dilute the effectiveness of a potentially affecting drama.
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All Critics (89) | Top Critics (28) | Fresh (40) | Rotten (49)
It's a lovely daydream, made lovelier by the fiercely maternal performance of Sarandon as a lioness protecting her cubs, and Julia Roberts as a mass of insecurity trying to measure up to impossible standards. April 2, 2019 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…
It's a lovely daydream, made lovelier by the fiercely maternal performance of Sarandon as a lioness protecting her cubs, and Julia Roberts as a mass of insecurity trying to measure up to impossible standards.
Jami Bernard
Well, if unearned pathos is your cup of tea, drink up. April 1, 2019 | Full Review…
Well, if unearned pathos is your cup of tea, drink up.
Jay Boyar
Under Chris Columbus' direction, they make a pretty but utterly misleading picture in which cheap sentiment is used to supply easy, false resolutions to agonizing issues. April 1, 2019 | Full Review…
Under Chris Columbus' direction, they make a pretty but utterly misleading picture in which cheap sentiment is used to supply easy, false resolutions to agonizing issues.
Richard Schickel
The result is a cartoonish two-hour-plus soap opera of little distinction, played by actors who deserve better and should have known better. April 1, 2019 | Rating: 2/4 | Full Review…
The result is a cartoonish two-hour-plus soap opera of little distinction, played by actors who deserve better and should have known better.
John Hartl
A disjointed hybrid of domestic comedy and mortal illness that might have been written by a support group of lobotomy survivors. April 1, 2019 | Full Review…
A disjointed hybrid of domestic comedy and mortal illness that might have been written by a support group of lobotomy survivors.
Joe Morgenstern
[Stepmom] offers some useful insights into how feelings of jealousy and betrayal can limit the potential of family relationships. But these ideas are more or less undermined by the movie's maddeningly typical glamorizing of illness. April 1, 2019 | Full Review…
[Stepmom] offers some useful insights into how feelings of jealousy and betrayal can limit the potential of family relationships. But these ideas are more or less undermined by the movie's maddeningly typical glamorizing of illness.
Lisa Alspector
If you're going to make children say such terrible things, you should at least back it up with a movie about divorce and death that is sincere and penetrating. In other words, the type of film that Chris Columbus wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole. October 8, 2019 | Rating: 1/5 | Full Review…
If you're going to make children say such terrible things, you should at least back it up with a movie about divorce and death that is sincere and penetrating. In other words, the type of film that Chris Columbus wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole.
Daniel Barnes
Stepmom is a piece of formulaic Hollywood product that's barely redeemed by its three fine leads and top notch production values. It suffers in comparison to the similar, but far better, One True Thing. April 2, 2019 | Rating: C | Full Review…
Stepmom is a piece of formulaic Hollywood product that's barely redeemed by its three fine leads and top notch production values. It suffers in comparison to the similar, but far better, One True Thing.
Laura Clifford
Were it not for the stellar acting of Sarandon (the most infectious weeper this side of Brenda Blethyn) and Julia Roberts (irresistible as ever) the whole predictable enterprise would be too mawkish for words. April 1, 2019 | Full Review…
Were it not for the stellar acting of Sarandon (the most infectious weeper this side of Brenda Blethyn) and Julia Roberts (irresistible as ever) the whole predictable enterprise would be too mawkish for words.
Todd Anthony
Stepmom is highly effective filmmaking, eliciting its fair share of laughter and sobs, even though the least gullible moviegoers will be able to see all the melodramatic machinery cranking and groaning behind the curtains. April 1, 2019 | Rating: 2.5/4 | Full Review…
Stepmom is highly effective filmmaking, eliciting its fair share of laughter and sobs, even though the least gullible moviegoers will be able to see all the melodramatic machinery cranking and groaning behind the curtains.
Dennis King
Though Stepmom has its ups and downs, it shows Columbus as a director who has graduated to adulthood after his two Home Alone hits without losing sight of the struggles of children. April 1, 2019 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…
Though Stepmom has its ups and downs, it shows Columbus as a director who has graduated to adulthood after his two Home Alone hits without losing sight of the struggles of children.
Malcolm Johnson
The critic feels cheated, but all around him the audience is happily weeping. April 1, 2019 | Full Review…
The critic feels cheated, but all around him the audience is happily weeping.
Brian D. Johnson
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