The Family Stone (2005)

Meredith, a very polite and well educated business-person but also very odd and quite unpleasant, joins Everett to his family Christmas celebration. She's about to find out that due to her personality, she's going to have a lot of trouble adapting to a loving, open- minded family which she can't understand. Meredith's relationship with Everett is going to be put to the ultimate test before the upcoming proposal.It's an interesting story which doesn't lose any time when it comes to presenting itself. We see Meredith put in the middle of the "action" right from the beginning, struggling to make her way into a new family. Meeting and understanding everyone will prove to be a difficult task for her and the ending will be as pleasant as it is unexpected. It manages to be very funny from time to time and it keeps your attention most of the time, moving from one situation to another (thanks to its rather large number of characters). It's enjoyable overall but it had some parts which seemed too exaggerated, out of place, or even too embarrassing for my taste. A good movie to be seen in the winter holidays.

Here it is, 2017, and I am writing a review of a movie released in 2006. Perhaps it is because I lived for 20 years in the Boston area, so many of the nuances ring true (Bedford is, after all, considered a high-end suburb) but I just love this movie. I must have watched it over 20 times and it never fails to delight. I guess you can call it my personal ground hog day. Let me count the ways I love this movie - 1) Not a note rings false - ensemble casting at it's best. And the actors seem to know it - they appear to be enjoying themselves. 2) Incredible talent across the board. 3) Watching the Meredith character shed her false rigidity to even the point of believing herself a full-fledged skank, while whining about it all of the time, is one of the funniest portrayals I've ever seen. You can see why John F. Kennedy, the man who could have practically any woman, chose Sarah Jessica Parker for a relatively serious fling. She is an intelligent, sweet hoot. That is all there is to it. 4) The rest of the performances are equally fabulous. That area of Massachusetts (the way Western part), is rather unique. You would have to grow up there, like I did, to really appreciate it I guess. The campus depicted there is where I saw Gwynneth Paltrow perform Shakespeare live on stage on the cusp of becoming famous, and where the front desk told me that Paul Newman was in the B&B. An intellectual Hollywood East of a sort. Not one detail of the movie rang false, from the Volvo to the bags of food from Whole Foods. Thank you for this fabulous gift that keeps giving - the quirky ensemble movie serving up a large helping of both laughs and pathos. I will enjoy it for years to come. For those who don't get it and can't see past the skank factor, this movie is about a loving family in crisis, in particular, in denial that they are about to lose their matriarch to cancer. The "good" son is unconsciously using magical thinking, trying to be super-good by wearing the tie, the suit, and bringing home the conservative (he thinks) fiancé. The irony is that the fiancé herself is a bit of a "freak" (non-conformist) and that she herself discovers this at the same time that the family comes to terms with the imminent loss of their beloved mother. A psychologically astute, funny and moving film.

I'm not overrating this movie when giving it a ten stars. I follow this website and its movie reviews for more than 6 years and I 've never ever had the feeling to write a movie review. This is my very first one. I'm only writing it because this movie made me display some tears from the middle of it to the end. This is the most beautiful movie I've ever seen, actually not the movie, actually this is the most beautiful story that I've ever seen. It express human feelings in a way that for me who wrote this story is undeniably a genius. It shows how every family should be, its a real life lesson. It shows how each person on a family should feel like being a driver in the car of his life and steering and paying attention all the time when steering to the right or to the left to make sure you are not really hurting anyone's feelings. This movie shows that be happy is not the most important thing in life but trying to be happy is.

After reading the awful reviews of this movie (which are ridiculous) I feel I had to put my two cents in. This movie is wonderful. Every minute of it. You will laugh and you will cry and there are parts where I am sure people will be able to relate to. While people complain that the family is mean to SJP, you have to understand that they love their son and brother and they know she isn't the one for him. Not only that, but SJP is obviously trying to be someone she is not. This movie is about the love of a family and coming to terms with finding out who you are and where and who you belong with. It all turns out better and better as the movie ends. Must watch and keep and open mind. So worth it.