The Family Stone
 | This December 2006 may be confusing or unclear to readers. |
- This article is about a movie. For the rock/soul/funk band, please see Sly & the Family Stone.
| The Family Stone | |
|---|---|
| File:The Family Stone film.jpg The Family Stone film poster | |
| Directed by | Thomas Bezucha |
| Written by | Thomas Bezucha |
| Produced by | Michael London |
| Starring | Claire Danes, Diane Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Craig T. Nelson, Sarah Jessica Parker, Luke Wilson, Tyrone Giordano, Brian J. White, Dermot Mulroney |
| Cinematography | Jonathan Brown |
| Edited by | Jeffrey Ford |
| Music by | Michael Giacchino |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
Release dates | December 16, 2005 (USA) |
Running time | 103 min. |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $18,000,000 (production) $12,000,000 (est. promotion) |
The Family Stone is a feature film written and directed by Thomas Bezucha and released on December 16, 2005. It is an ensemble piece depicting the holiday misadventures of the Stone family when the eldest son brings his girlfriend home intending to propose to her with the cherished family engagement ring. The film stars Sarah Jessica Parker, Craig T. Nelson, Diane Keaton, Luke Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Brian J. White, Claire Danes and Dermot Mulroney. Parker was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy.
The title's meaning is three-fold. It refers literally to an heirloom diamond wedding ring the family owns. It also refers to the family last name of "Stone". Ultimately it alludes to the character of Sybil, the family matriarch who holds them all together.
- Tagline: Feel the love.
Plot
The movie is set during Christmas in the fictional town of Thayer, Connecticut. Everett (Mulroney) has brought home Meredith (Parker) to meet his family, the Stones. Even before they arrive, however, the family has already been placing judgment on Meredith. The Stones are perceived as a rather relaxed and liberal family (Amy, the sister, is seen getting out of a beat-up Volvo with an NPR bag; Thad, a brother, is deaf and gay and has an African-American partner; Ben, another brother, is introduced as a pothead from Berkeley; Susannah, the eldest sister, is pregnant and has a young daughter). Meredith, from the get-go, is an uptight, Type-A, straight-laced personality that doesn't seem to fit in. Her seemingly emotionally unavailable personality annoys other family members, especially open-minded mother Sybil (Keaton) and youngest daughter Amy (McAdams). In particular Amy attacks Meredith viciously and mercilessly. These unfriendly opening salvos cause Meredith to decide to stay at an inn (under the excuse that she needs better back support while sleeping). The father, Kelly (Nelson), insists that the family treat Meredith better. Everett also remonstrates his family for not being civil to someone who is important to him. He also asks his mother for her mother's engagement ring (the family "stone") as he plans to propose to Meredith on Christmas Day. Sybil refuses, saying she's not the one for him. Everett storms out in anger.
We cut to Kelly and Ben (Wilson), who's smoking pot at a nearby college stadium. Ben asks about his mother. Kelly tells Ben that Sybil is still suffering from some kind of an illness that she has battled before, and this time, it has come back and will be unsurvivable. Ben breaks down. Kelly asks him not to discuss it as they intend to wait until after the holiday to break the news to everyone.
Meanwhile Meredith invites her more free-spirited sister Julie (Danes) to come into town for moral support. The family far more openly embraces Julie. At dinner, Julie asks gay brother Thad and his African-American partner Patrick (White) if they have a racial preference for the baby they plan to adopt. Meredith is horrified at the question, but is surprised when no one takes offense. She then tries to fit in by starting her own controversial conversation when Sybil says (partially in jest) that she had hoped all of her sons would turn out to be gay.
Meredith attempts to express her disbelief that this could be true as gay people face great challenges and prejudice from the world, but the statement comes out wrong (concluding with her insinuation that gay people are not "normal"). This prompts outrage from other family members, and Meredith flees the table. Middle brother Ben intercepts her and takes her to a bar, where she becomes very inebriated and expresses a freer side of her personality. She even invites an EMT, Brad (who is earlier off-handedly mentioned by Sybil as someone who has always had a soft spot for Amy), to Christmas breakfast.
Everett and Julie go looking for Meredith and wind up bonding more closely with one another. When they cannot find her, and after many hours of compatible conversation, Everett invites Julie for coffee. She turns him down out of respect for her sister. There is also a brief scene where Sybil and Kelly make love and it is revealed that Sybil has had a mastectomy. Here, we get confirmation that Sybil's illness (presumably cancer) has returned, and this time it will take her life. Kelly assures her that the family will be fine and will be able to go on without her.
Christmas morning dawns with Meredith waking up in Ben's bed. He's in the shower and she assumes that she has slept with him. Kelly, coming to wish Ben a Merry Christmas, discovers Meredith in Ben's bed. He leaves in shock. Meanwhile, down in the kitchen, Sybil presents Everett with the family ring. Everett is still hurt by his family's attack on Meredith and cannot bring himself to wish his mother a merry Christmas. Sybil reveals the return of her illness to Everett, who breaks down. Sybil pleads with Everett to do what makes him happy, not what he thinks is the right thing to do. In a moment of emotional confusion (or clarity), Everett asks Julie (who happened to walk into the kitchen) to try on the ring. The ring gets stuck on Julie's hand. She flees to the bathroom to try and get the ring off. Meredith appears but cannot bring herself to explain where she's been. Ben appears, only to be taken into the sitting room by his father who is very upset with him. Julie explains the ring situation to Meredith, who is happy and completely terrified that she is about to be proposed to.
The sisters give up on the ring and go into the living room, where everyone is opening presents. Meredith presents everyone with the same present, all wrapped identically. It is a picture of a pregnant Sybil, looking radiant. Sybil looks at Amy and says, "This is you and me, kid." She turns to Meredith and says, "You did good." This makes Meredith feel even worse, and when Everett asks to talk to her, she demurs again and again, until she shouts, "No, I will not marry you!".
Everett says that he was not going to ask her to marry him. This ultimately leads to a tearful breakdown by Meredith in front of the whole family, including the confession of her infidelity. Ben reveals that they did not, in fact, sleep together.
Everyone's personality conflicts come to a head, and the family begins the process of healing. Meredith realizes she has fallen for Ben. Meanwhile Julie leaves unannounced, thinking she is the cause of these turmoils. Everett tracks her down at the bus station, and asks her to stay. She gets on the bus anyway and the bus pulls away from the station. Everett stares at the bus for a long time, and then it stops. He runs to the bus, to find Julie at the door, asking if he was doing anything for New Year's. The next shot is of Everett, running alone, with a smile on his face.
One year later, everyone is back at the Stone family house. Meredith and Ben are a couple; so are Julie and Everett. Thad and Patrick have adopted a baby boy and Susannah has had a baby. Amy is with Brad (the EMT). Sybil has died, but we are to assume she was able to make sure the entire family was happy before she died, her ultimate wish.
Cast
- The Stone Family
- Rachel McAdams as Amy Stone: the spiteful, grad student, single sister spearheading the effort against Meredith, seen usually in messy, over-sized clothes. She is referred to by Sybil as her "fourth born". She is a teacher.
- Craig T. Nelson as Kelly Stone: laid-back college professor pater familias
- Diane Keaton as Sybil Stone: the outspoken matriarch, survived a bout of breast cancer and has recently fallen ill again and has died by the end of the film.
- Dermot Mulroney as Everett Stone: the overachieving eldest child, brings his girlfriend home to meet the family and later tries to propose to her, but the ring gets stuck on Julie Morton's finger trying it out for Everett.
- Luke Wilson as Ben Stone: the laid-back, pot-smoking slacker brother (and a documentary film editor) who unlike Everett's other siblings, manages to find some sympathy for Meredith. As well he takes her out for fun trying to make Meredith loosen up.
- Tyrone Giordano as Thaddeus "Thad" Stone: the deaf and gay youngest son trying to adopt a baby with his partner, Patrick Thomas (Brian J. White). He is a successful architect in Boston.
- Elizabeth Reaser as Susannah Stone Trousdale: pregnant, happily married housewife. Also the eldest daughter.
- Brian J. White as Patrick Thomas: Thad Stone's partner, trying to adopt a baby.
- Jamie Kaler as John Trousdale: Susannah's husband.
- Savannah Stehlin as Elizabeth Trousdale: Susannah Stone Trousdale's ten year old daughter.
- Other Characters
- Sarah Jessica Parker as Meredith Morton: a stiff businesswoman and control-freak girlfriend with a throat-clearing tick who annoys the members of the Stone family. She's just trying to make them like her, but everything just keeps going wrong for her.
- Claire Danes as Julie Morton: Meredith's sister called in for back-up, handles artist grants for the Rockefeller Foundation, a warm-hearted antithesis to her tightly wound sister. The Stone family likes her a lot.
- Paul Schneider as Brad Stevenson: local paramedic and Amy Stone's former flame, invited to the Stone house on Christmas by Meredith, to stir it all up.
Trivia
- The photograph showing Sybil Stone with her baby-daughter Amy, which Meredith gives to everyone as a christmas present, is an original photograph of Diane Keaton. The same picture is used in the film Because I Said So.
References
