A
film review by James Berardinelli for ReelViews.net.
It's
a tough thing for a dysfunctional-family-at-Christmas movie to avoid doses of
melodrama, and it's fair to say that The
Family Stone contains its share. But the nice thing about the movie is that
it avoids overt manipulation. There's some - it's virtually impossible for a
movie of this sort to generate an emotional response without any - but it's
kept to a minimum and doesn't come at the viewer like a sledgehammer. Instead
of having to sit through a Terms of
Endearment scene, we are offered something more tasteful.
Meeting
one's prospective in-laws is always a daunting prospect, but combine the
following factors - you're going to meet them all at once, you're not
comfortable with large family gatherings, and it's Christmas - and you have a
recipe for a really bad holiday. For Meredith Morton (Sarah Jessica Parker), this is a nightmare come to life. Meredith
is a repressed, buttoned down type with impeccable manners. People warm to her
like they do to a glacier. She has accompanied her boyfriend, Everett Stone (Dermot Mulroney), home for the
holidays. In addition to introducing her to his family, he's thinking of
proposing marriage.
The
Stone family reacts to Meredith's arrival like a pack of wolves, and they
pounce with fangs bared. The worst of the lot is Everett's youngest sister, Amy
(Rachel McAdams), who has a barbed
comment for every occasion. Sybil (Diane
Keaton), Everett's mother, isn't much better - she instantly recognizes
that Meredith isn't right for her son. Everett's dad, Kelly (Craig T. Nelson); deaf brother, Thad (Tyrone Giordano); and pregnant sister,
Susannah (Elizabeth Reaser), take a
wait-and-see approach. Only Ben (Luke
Wilson), the black sheep of the Stone clan, seems willing to cut Meredith a
break. After less than a day with the Stones, the frazzled outsider, feeling
the pressure, checks out of the house and into a nearby inn. She also calls in
reinforcements in the person of her sister, Julie (Claire Danes). What proceeds to complicate matters is that Everett
finds himself attracted to Julie, while Ben and Meredith discover a connection
when they attempt to fly her freak flag.
I
have seen The Family Stone categorized
in some places as a screwball comedy,
but this is an inappropriate label. There are a few mildly comedic moments
sprinkled throughout the production, but this belongs in the drama category.
Laughter, although it may occur (and hopefully in all the right places), is not
the primary goal of writer/director Thomas
Bezucha. He wants The Family Stone
to touch a deeper chord. For the most part, he succeeds. There's nothing
extraordinary or groundbreaking about the film, but it understands what it's
doing, and does it effectively. The key for a movie like this is getting the
characters to seem more like people than caricatures, and Bezucha accomplishes
that.
The
film comes with an epilogue, and it is needed because not all the subplots can
be wrapped up in the three-day span that restricts the primary action. This
five-minute sequence, which offers closure to almost everything, has an
underlying sense of poignancy that the director could have mishandled. The atmosphere
is ripe for manipulation of the kind that will ensure there's not a dry eye in
the house. But Bezucha is restrained. He's smart, recognizing that we don't
need violins to feel the undercurrent.
The
talented cast helps. Sarah Jessica Parker, finding that there is life after Sex in the City, has no difficulty with
Meredith's arc. Of all the characters in the movie, she undergoes the biggest
transformation, and Parker aces it. Diane Keaton and Craig T. Nelson settle
comfortably into the matriarch / patriarch roles, and there is one especially
touching scene between the two of them. Luke Wilson brings his special brand of
relaxed, don't worry, be happy
performance to the proceedings. Rachel McAdams, 2005's it girl (see also Wedding
Crashers and Red Eye), imparts a
dose of charisma. Claire Danes, on the comeback trail, is appealing. And Dermot
Mulroney needs little more to get by than his good looks.
It's
worth mentioning that this is the best adult holiday film in a while. (Of
course, competition has been thin - Christmas
with the Kranks, Surviving Christmas, etc.) The box office life of The Family Stone will be short. The
movie is so drenched in Christmas spirit that it will seem a little stale once
the holidays are past. Even taking this into consideration, it's worth two
hours for those who appreciate this kind of workmanlike, low-risk drama.
Labels:
Christmas, comedy, drama, reunion, rom-drama-faves, romance
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