“The Family Stone” Directed by Thomas
Bezucha 20th Century Fox The members of the eponymous
family of “The Family Stone” fit liberal stereotypes to
a T, though they may stop short of being the “left-wing,
communist, Jewish, homosexual pornographers” described in
Woody Allen’s “Annie Hall.” A staple of almost
every holiday movie is the dysfunctional family, but few have been
as unbelievable as this one, led by “Annie Hall”
co-star Diane Keaton. Keaton stars as Sybil Stone, the matriarch of
the family. And the eldest son Everett (Dermot Mulroney) is
bringing home his serious girlfriend (Sarah Jessica Parker) to meet
his unusual family. The ever-liberal and open-minded Stone family
takes an instant disliking to the uptight, proper Meredith Morton.
Her exaggerated modesty even compels her to switch rooms, refusing
to sleep in the same room as her boyfriend in his family’s
home. While all this is going on, the other Stone children ““
Ben (Luke Wilson), a documentarian out in Berkeley; Amy (Rachel
McAdams), a schoolteacher; Thad, the gay, deaf son, and his
boyfriend Patrick; and Susannah, mother of one and pregnant ““
all return home for the holidays to deal with their personal
problems. Thad and Patrick are trying to adopt, Susannah and her
absent husband are having marital problems, Amy hates Meredith, and
Ben falls for Meredith. So goes Christmas at the Stones’,
full of snide remarks, judgment and uncomfortably awkward
situations between the family and their bete noire, Meredith. As
odd as the family Stone is, it is not always funny. Sybil is
battling with breast cancer, casting a pall over the holiday
festivities. There are some emotionally forceful scenes, including
one in which Sybil and her husband Kelly (Craig T. Nelson) are in
bed together, and another in which Meredith presents her Christmas
gifts to the family. However, with the movie’s subplots and
unfinished narratives, more time is spent trying to piece it
together than enjoying it. The message that writer-director Thomas
Bezucha tries to focus on is intriguing: An ostensibly tolerant
family can still be extremely prejudiced against someone different.
However, the theme gets lost amid the many threads of the story.
And in the end, it becomes difficult to relate to because of shoddy
storytelling and unlikely situations.
““ Ana Heller