#222: The Family Stone

Release Date: December 16th, 2005

Format: Streaming (Disney+)

Written by: Thomas Bezucha

Directed by: Thomas Bezucha

2.5 Stars

The Family Stone seems like a Christmas movie that’s been sort of lost in the shuffle over the last two decades. 

Written and directed by Thomas Bezucha, the film is a James L. Brooks-style family dramedy set in New England. The plot involves the Stone family, where eldest adult son Everett (Dermot Mulroney) is bringing his girlfriend, Meredith (Sarah Jessica Parker), home for the holidays. They are both careerist yuppy-types, which is in stark contrast to the rest of the Stone family, headlined by the free-spirited family matriarch, Sybil (Diane Keaton), and her professor husband, Kelly (Craig T. Nelson). They seem like the type that may have met during a Vietnam protest in the ‘60s. 

In addition to their eldest son Everett, they have two daughters, Amy (Rachel McAdams) and Susannah (Elizabeth Reaser). Amy is the baby of the family, a cereal-munching, NPR-listening graduate student who lives at home, and Susannah is the elder, pregnant sister. There are also two other sons in the family, Ben (Luke Wilson) and Thad (Tyrone Giordano). Ben is a pot-smoking film editor who lives in Berkeley, and Thad is an architect, who is deaf, and has also brought his boyfriend Patrick (Brian J. White), who is black, home for the Stone family Christmas. 

I mention this large, diverse cast because it’s integral to Bezucha’s well-meaning script, which is a bit heavy-handed and tonally inconsistent at times. The crux of the story is whether or not Everett can convince the freewheeling Stones, especially his mother, to approve of Meredith and validate his decision to propose to her. Bezucha is aiming for a kind of WASP-y version of My Big Fat Greek Wedding, with similarly messy interpersonal family dynamics, but I don’t think he matches that film’s authenticity, or humor.  

I did like the ending, however. I don’t know if it’s because Dakota and I watched it so recently after the death of Diane Keaton, but I found it touching. It helps elevate The Family Stone enough to be worth a watch during the holiday season.