The Family Stone

This is one of those down the middle pictures. There are many things to like, and some that don’t make a lot of sense. Mostly, it’s the sort of picture actors love. Everybody is talented, and gets to show off here and there. Sarah Jessica Parker shows up for Christmas as the new girlfriend, almost fiancée, of the oldest boy in a large family. Diane Keaton detests her on sight, though she is polite. So does her youngest daughter. It is impossible for Parker to please this family, partly because she is just the wrong sort of person for them, and because she tried so hard she’s guaranteed to fail, and in the end, because she’s wrong for the guy. Complications ensue, some of them funny, some of them poignant. Soon we discover that

SPOILER WARNING!

Mom is dying of cancer, and I thought, oh boy, here we go again. But I have to say that part wasn’t overplayed. The movie was more about love and finding the right person than about death. I guess I’d give it two stars, out of a possible four. Maybe two and a half.

Must add that I am entranced by Rachel McAdams who, last year, sparkled in Wedding Crashers, and in Red Eye, out-did Jodie Foster’s Flightplan for thrills and you-go-girl! spunk. Which is really saying something, because Foster’s movie was damn good.