Review: The Family Stone

The Family Stone (2005) explores the complicated relationships of family members during a Christmas week when Everett (Dermot Mulroney) brings his girlfriend Meredith (Sarah Jessica Parker) home to meet his eccentric and opinionated family with the intention of proposing. Meredith, who seems confident in the opening sequence in New York, loses any semblance of self-assuredness in the presence of Everett’s family. She calls her sister Julie (Claire Danes) to help her get through the holiday.

The family is headed by Kelly (Craig T. Nelson) and Sibyl (Diane Keaton). Sibyl has promised her mother’s wedding ring to the woman Everett marries, but she disapproves of his choice and reneges on the promise. Youngest sister Amy (Rachel McAdams) also disapproves and makes no attempt to hide her antipathy for Meredith. Thad, the deaf gay son, and his partner Patrick seem willing to give the newcomer a chance, if only because of the hard time Amy had initially given Patrick. Luke Wilson plays Ben, the brother who seems to appreciate and understand Meredith in ways that elude Everett.

The characters make astute observations about each other that suggest a level of insight not usually allowed characters in ensembles in romantic comedies. Ben instantly recognizes that Everett doesn’t love Meredith. Kelly realizes that Meredith’s insecurity suggests that Everett lacks self-awareness.

There are some nice visual parallels in the movie. Ben sees Meredith at the top of the stairs and is instantly smitten; later, Everett sees Julie at the top of the (much shorter) stairs in the bus and is similarly smitten.

When The Family Stone was originally released, a number of reviews expressed the opinion that the Stones were awful people while Meredith was the only well-behaved one. Kelly makes a similar observation about Meredith’s manners in a private scene with Sibyl, who shoots back that anyone can have manners if adequately trained (the actual line is funnier... and crude).

But Meredith’s manners are far from perfect. She justifies Amy’s complaint that she talks incessantly, giving no one else a chance to speak. During a dinner conversation, she makes comments that would be considered politically incorrect under normal circumstances, but which wander into the realm of rudeness with Thad and Patrick at the table. It’s left to Ben to humanize her, and Wilson is perfect in this role. He is nowhere near the best actor in the cast, but he has the right brand of charm to make the character perfectly imperfect.

The main nod to tired movie tropes in The Family Stone is Meredith’s hair, tightly wound into a bun in the beginning of the film and remaining that way until after Ben gets her to drink a few beers. Her hair is let down, and she loosens up. Perhaps it’s expected, but most of the rest of the movie seems to expect the audience to be smarter than that.

This is not a movie for young children, and even some older children may be bored by some of the scenes. Teenagers and adults who like movies about complicated relationships may find this a welcome addition to their Christmas movie traditions.

This post was written by L.R. Simon.