The Family Stone

The Family Stone
The Family Stone DVD cover
Directed by	Thomas Bezucha
Produced by	Michael London
Written by	Thomas Bezucha
Starring	Claire Danes Diane Keaton Rachel McAdams Craig T. Nelson Sarah Jessica Parker Luke Wilson Elizabeth Reaser Tyrone Giordano Brian J. White Dermot Mulroney
Music by	Michael Giacchino
Cinematography	Jonathan Brown
Editing by	Jeffrey Ford
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	December 16, 2005 (USA)
Running time	103 min.
Country	USA
Language	English
Budget	$18,000,000 (production) $12,000,000 (est. promotion)
Gross revenue	$92,283,851

The Family Stone is a 2005 American dramedy film written and directed by Thomas Bezucha. It is an ensemble piece focusing on the Christmas holiday misadventures of the titular family in a small New England town when the eldest son brings his girlfriend home with the intention of proposing to her with a cherished heirloom ring, the title being a play on the family's name and a reference to the ring.

Plot synopsis

Set in the fictional town of Thayer, Massachusetts, the story focuses on Meredith Morton (Sarah Jessica Parker), a successful Manhattan executive whose uptight, conservative demeanor is a sharp contrast to that of her boyfriend Everett Stone's (Dermot Mulroney) very liberal and rambunctious family. He has four siblings:

• Amy (Rachel McAdams) is a school teacher currently pursuing her Masters Degree and NPR supporter who has previously met Meredith and took an immediate disliking to her
• Thad (Tyrone Giordano) is a deaf and gay architect who lives in Boston and is contemplating adoption with his African-American partner Patrick (Brian J. White)
• Ben (Luke Wilson) is a stoner who makes documentary films and lives in Berkeley; he finds an immediate attraction to Meredith
• Susannah (Elizabeth Reaser), A housewife who has a young daughter, Elizabeth (Savannah Stehlin), and is expecting her second child.

The Stones' father, Kelly (Craig T. Nelson), is also an architect, and their mother, Sybil (Diane Keaton), a bohemian type who is dealing with the recurrence of a fatal illness, which isn't directly stated. It's implied that she had breast cancer previously, which has since metastasized (Metastasis).

Meredith, feeling very much an outsider, opts to stay at the local inn instead of with the family and asks her sister Julie (Claire Danes) to join her from Bedford for support. Everett immediately finds himself attracted to the more outgoing Julie. Meredith desperately tries to fit in, but her strained attempt to play charades and clumsy effort to engage the family in a dinner table discussion about nature versus nurture and sexual orientation prove to be disastrous. Distraught, Meredith attempts to drive off but crashes the car, and Ben comes to her rescue. The two end up in a local bar where, after several drinks, Meredith literally, and figuratively, lets down her hair and begins to enjoy herself. She invites local paramedic Brad Stevenson (Paul Schneider), Amy's former high school flame, to the Stone house for Christmas breakfast. The following morning, when she awakens in Ben's bed, she incorrectly assumes their night of revelry ended with the two making love.

Christmas proves to be a day of accusations, recriminations, self-discoveries, and heartfelt attempts to mend fences. Sybil, who originally refused Everett's request for his grandmother's ring, reconsiders her position and offers it to him, but by now his feelings for Meredith have shifted to her sister. In a moment of emotional confusion—or clarity—he asks Julie to try on the ring, and it gets stuck. When Julie and Meredith lock themselves in the bathroom to get the ring off, they assume Everett is about to propose to Meredith. The family exchanges gifts, and Meredith, oblivious to Sybil's failing health, presents each with a framed enlarged photograph of Sybil taken when she was pregnant with Amy. Everyone is touched by her gesture, and Meredith relaxes slightly, but when Everett asks to talk to her, she demurs again and again until she blurts out that she will not marry him. He counters that he didn't plan to ask her. Meredith breaks down in front of the family. All the personality conflicts come to a head, and everyone begins the process of healing.

One year later, the family reunites at the Stone house. Meredith and Ben are a couple, as are Everett and Julie and Amy and Brad. Thad and Patrick have adopted a baby boy and Susannah has had her baby. Sybil has died, but it is apparent her spirit lives on as the family gathers around the tree.

Principle cast

• Sarah Jessica Parker as Meredith Morton
• Dermot Mulroney as Everett Stone
• Claire Danes as Julie Morton
• Diane Keaton as Sybil Stone
• Craig T. Nelson as Kelly Stone
• Rachel McAdams as Amy Stone
• Luke Wilson as Ben Stone
• Tyrone Giordano as Thad Stone
• Elizabeth Reaser as Susannah Stone Trousdale
• Brian J. White as Patrick Thomas
• Paul Schneider as Brad Stevenson
• Savannah Stehlin as Elizabeth Trousdale
• Bryce Harris and Bradly Harris (uncredited) as Baby Gus

Soundtrack

Songs heard on the film's soundtrack include:

• "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" performed by Dean Martin
• "Jingle Bells" performed by Johnny Mercer
• "Fooled Around and Fell in Love" performed by Elvin Bishop
• "Miracles" and "Count on Me" performed by Jefferson Starship
• "Right Back Where We Started From" performed by Maxine Nightingale
• "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" performed by Judy Garland

Critical reception

In her review in the New York Times, Manohla Dargis observed the film is "a clear attempt to bottle the manic energy and generous spirit of madcap classics like George Cukor's wonderful 1938 Holiday. This partly explains Mr. Bezucha's unfortunate attempts at broad physical comedy, which even a dexterous performer like Ms. Parker has trouble with . . . The female troubles that bedevil The Family Stone are by turns exasperating and fascinating. Save for the boring sister, the women are pills, but they're also far more fun to watch than the men, who all are terribly kind and dull, dull, dull . . . The women make The Family Stone, especially Ms. Parker, whose nimble performance is reason alone to see the film: not since Philippe Petit has anyone walked a tightrope with such finesse — and in high heels, no less."^[1]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times stated the film "is silly at times, leaning toward the screwball tradition of everyone racing around the house at the same time in a panic fueled by serial misunderstandings. There is also a thoughtful side, involving the long and loving marriage of Sybil and Kelly . . . The Family Stone sorts out its characters admirably, depends on typecasting to help establish its characters more quickly, and finds a winding path between happy and sad secrets to that moment when we realize that the Family Stone will always think of this fateful Christmas with a smile, and a tear."^[2]

In Variety, Justin Chang called the film "a smart, tart but mildly undercooked Christmas pudding" and added the "lovingly mounted ensembler has many heartfelt moments and a keen ear for the rhythms of domestic life, which make the neatly gift-wrapped outcome somewhat disappointing . . . Bezucha tosses the viewer into every conversation headfirst, deploying a rough, at times disorienting visual style that works in rhythm with the layers of overlapping dialogue to deliver a pleasingly antic, semi-improvisational feel . . . but while individual scenes have an authentically off-the-cuff feel, the narrative structure as a whole feels a tad schematic."^[3]

Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times said, "A contemporary version of the traditional screwball romantic comedy, The Family Stone is a film that's at times as ragged and shaggy as its family unit. But as written and directed by Thomas Bezucha, its offbeat mixture of highly choreographed comic crises and the occasional bite of reality make for an unexpectedly enticing blend . . . [he] has been helped by a first-rate cast . . . an especially strong ensemble . . . the actors seem pleased with their roles and relaxed with one another."^[4]

In Rolling Stone, Peter Travers rated the film three out of a possible four stars and added, "It's a comedy with a dash of tragedy — the kind of thing that usually makes me puke. But I fell for this one . . . Writer-director Thomas Bezucha lays it on thick, but he knows the mad-dog anarchy of family life and gives the laughs a sharp comic edge."^[5]

Box office

After spending 15 weeks in theatres, The Family Stone earned $60,062,868 in the US and $32,220,983 in foreign markets, bringing its worldwide total to $92,283,851.^[6]

Nominations

• Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy (Sarah Jessica Parker)
• Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy (Craig T. Nelson)
• Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy (Diane Keaton and Rachel McAdams)
• GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Film in Wide Release
• Casting Society of America Artios Award for Best Feature Film Casting - Comedy
• American Cinema Editors Eddie Award for Best Edited Feature Film - Comedy or Musical

See also

• List of American films of 2005

References

External links

• Official website
• The Family Stone at the Internet Movie Database
• The Family Stone at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Family Stone at Allmovie
• Interview with Sarah Jessica Parker and Diane Keaton