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A marvelous ensemble cast can often turn familiar Hollywood product into a surprisingly refreshing entertainment; and such is the case with The Family Stone, which features A-listers Sarah Jessica Parker, Diane Keaton, Claire Danes, and Luke Wilson alongside such strong character actors as Craig T. Nelson and Dermot Mulroney. An oil-and-water family reunion sets the scene as uptight career woman Meredith Morton (Parker) accompanies her boyfriend, Everett Stone (Mulroney), to his family home for Christmas. Meredith feels ill at ease among his freewheeling parents (Keaton and Nelson) and eccentric siblings, and when the inevitable blow-up occurs she begs her sensible sister (Danes) to spirit her away. And in the tradition of act-one setups, that's when things really get interesting, leading to a Christmas morning the family Stone will never forget. Writer-director Thomas Bezucha may be too eager to stuff disparate elements and characters into the film, but his players save the day with their finely tuned performances and expert comic delivery. Wilson, playing Everett's laid-back brother, sidles into the leading-man slot quite effortlessly, while Rachel McAdams, as a shrewish sister, just about steals every scene she's in. A third-act revelation, intended to be startling, won't catch any viewer by surprise, but its aftermath makes for a poignant denouement. The Family Stone may not always hit the mark, but its mixture of good-hearted warmth and laughs ensure its future as a perennial in the tradition of Jodie Foster's underrated Home for the Holidays. Ed Hulse

All Movie Guide

A woman meets her future in-laws and discovers they don't much care for her in this comedy from writer and director Thomas Bezucha. Everett Stone (Dermot Mulroney) is a successful young businessman who is dating Meredith Morton (Sarah Jessica Parker), and has asked her to spend Christmas with his family, with plans to ask his mother Sybil (Diane Keaton) for the titular family wedding band and propose to Meredith on Christmas. Meredith is more than a bit nervous about meeting Everett's folks, and things only get worse when they arrive -- Meredith is by her nature straight-laced and a bit uptight around strangers, while Sybil and family patriarch Kelly (Craig T. Nelson) are free-thinkers who, except for Everett, have raised a family of cheerfully rebellious children, most notably younger daughter Amy (Rachel McAdams), older brother Ben (Luke Wilson), and adopted sibling Thad (Tyrone Giordano, who is both deaf and gay.

Meredith and the Stone family do not get along well at first, especially Sybil, who is appalled at the prospect of Everett giving Meredith the family's heirloom wedding ring; in dire need of moral support, Meredith asks her younger sister, Julie (Claire Danes), to join her for Christmas with the Stones. However, the plan runs into a snag when Everett's head is turned by pretty Julie, and Meredith finds herself on the receiving end of attention from slobby Ben. Mark Deming

Product Details

• UPC: 024543234029
• Source: 20TH CENTURY FOX
• Region Code: 1
• Time: 1:43:00
• Sales Rank: 2,331

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