The Family Stone Movie Review

An outstanding Christmas story! The best way to describe The Family Stone is that there is never a dull moment! One minute it is hilariously funny and the next you find yourself in tears. Veteran actors, Diane Keaton and Craig T. Nelson deliver outstanding performances as the parents of five eccentric children coming home to spend the holidays with their parents. The Family Stone is one of the best movies that I have seen in years because the story was both touching and funny and the acting performances were outstanding.

The story begins with the children of Sybil and Kelly Stone arriving home to spend Christmas with their parents. The family anxiously awaits the arrival of the oldest son Everett (Dermot Mulroney) and his over anxious and aggressive girlfriend, Meredith (Sarah Jessica Parker). Meredith is uptight and stuck up and she is going to have trouble fitting in with the Stones. Those awaiting the arrival of the always late brother include his free spirited, pot smoking brother Ben (Luke Wilson), his judgmental kid sister Amy (Rachel McAdams) who already has her opinion about Meredith after meeting her one time, Everett’s other brother Thad ( Ty Giordono) who is gay and deaf along with Thad’s African-American partner, Patrick (Brian White.

The tensions between Meredith and the Stone family are sometimes uneasy to watch because Meredith is trying so hard to fit in and have the family like her. However, right of the back, Mama Sybil can tell that she is not the right girl for Everett. Brother Ben seems to take a liking to the portentous Meredith. To save herself from the family, Meredith calls upon the help of her beautiful sister, Julie (Claire Danes), who ends up catching the eye of our beloved Everett.
While this is a warming and funny movie, there are serious issues taken on in conversation as well, including the difference of opinions regarding gay children. It was most appealing and tear-jerking moment seeing the way Sybil and Kelly support their gay son. Not all gay individuals have the love and support of their families. Sybil and Kelly have raised five loving children with staunch opinions, yet the love the children show for their parents is heart-warming. The reaction of the boys towards the announcement of their mother’s sickness again brought me to tears and the acting involved in those scenes by Mulroney and Wilson was outstanding.

The various plots in the movie are a little different, and sometimes a little surprising, nevertheless, there is a surprising turn that makes this movie a romantic comedy with an emotional twist that will tug at the hearts of all those watching this spectacular movie.

While The Family Stone is not a movie for people of all ages like “A Miracle on 34th Street or a “A Wonderful Life,” it is a movie that will last throughout the ages as a new Christmas classic because of the touching and funny tone throughout the movie.