The Family Stone

Director:
Thomas Bezucha

Writer (WGA):
Thomas Bezucha (written by)

Release Date:
16 December 2005 (USA)

Genre:
Comedy | Drama | Romance

Cast :
* Sarah Jessica Parker as Meredith Morton
* Dermot Mulroney as Everett Stone
* Claire Danes as Julie Morton
* Diane Keaton as Sybil Stone
* Craig T. Nelson as Kelly Stone
* Rachel McAdams as Amy Stone
* Luke Wilson as Ben Stone
* Tyrone Giordano as Thad Stone
* Elizabeth Reaser as Susannah Stone Trousdale
* Brian J. White as Patrick Thomas
* Paul Schneider as Brad Stevenson
* Savannah Stehlin as Elizabeth Trousdale
* Bryce Harris and Bradly Harris (uncredited) as Baby Gus

Original Sound Track :
1. The Stone Family Waltz
2. Millie's Famous Brownies
3. They're Here!
4. Separate Bedrooms
5. Hi
6. Dawn
7. She's Going to the Inn
8. Who Else Knows?
9. Is That Her?
10. What Seems To Be The Problem Here, Ma'am?
11. Coffee or Something
12. A Big Red Shovel
13. Sybil & Kelly
14. Just Stockings
15. Try It On
16. You and Me, Kid
17. Trepak (Cossack Dance) from The Nutcracker
18. Global Warming
19. It's Snowing
20. A Very Good Tree
21. Main Theme
22. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
23. The Family Stone Suite

Plot :
Set in the fictional town of Thayer, Massachusetts, the story focuses on Meredith Morton (Sarah Jessica Parker), a successful Manhattan executive whose uptight, conservative demeanor is a sharp contrast to that of her boyfriend Everett Stone's (Dermot Mulroney) rambunctious family. He has four siblings:

* Amy (Rachel McAdams) is a school teacher and NPR supporter who has previously met Meredith and immediately took a disliking to her
* Thad (Tyrone Giordano) is a deaf and gay architect who is contemplating adoption with his African-American partner Patrick (Brian J. White)
* Ben (Luke Wilson) is a stoner who makes documentary films and lives in Berkeley; he finds an immediate attraction to Meredith
* and Susannah (Elizabeth Reaser), who has a young daughter Elizabeth (Savannah Stehlin) and is expecting her second child.

The Stones' father, Kelly (Craig T. Nelson), is also an architect, and their mother, Sybil (Diane Keaton), a bohemian type who is dealing with the recurrence of an unnamed fatal illness, which is apparently breast cancer.

Meredith, feeling very much an outsider, opts to stay at the local inn instead of with the family and asks her sister Julie (Claire Danes) to join her from Bedford for support. Everett immediately finds himself attracted to the younger, more easygoing girl. Meredith desperately tries to fit in, but her strained attempt to play charades and clumsy effort to engage the family in a dinner table discussion about nature versus nurture and sexual orientation prove to be disastrous. Distraught, Meredith attempts to drive off but crashes the car, and Ben comes to her rescue. The two end up in a local bar where, after several drinks, Meredith literally, and figuratively, lets down her hair and begins to enjoy herself. She invites local paramedic Brad Stevenson (Paul Schneider), Amy's former high school flame, to the Stone house for Christmas breakfast. The following morning, when she awakens in Ben's bed, she incorrectly assumes their night of revelry ended with the two making love.

Christmas proves to be a day of accusations, recriminations, self-discoveries, and heartfelt attempts to mend fences. Sybil, who originally refused Everett's request for his grandmother's ring, reconsiders her position and offers it to him, but by now his feelings for Meredith have shifted to her sister. In a moment of emotional confusion—or clarity—he asks Julie to try on the ring, and it gets stuck. When Meredith learns of the mishap, she assumes Everett is about to propose to her. The family exchanges gifts, and Meredith, oblivious to Sybil's failing health, presents each with a framed enlarged photograph of Sybil taken when she was pregnant with Amy. Everyone is touched by her gesture, and Meredith relaxes slightly, but when Everett asks to talk to her, she demurs again and again until she blurts out that she will not marry him. He counters that he didn't plan to ask her. Meredith breaks down in front of the family. All the personality conflicts come to a head, and everyone begins the process of healing.

One year later, the family reunites at the Stone house. Meredith and Ben are a couple, as are Everett and Julie and Amy and Brad. Thad and Patrick have adopted a baby boy and Susannah has had her baby. Sybil has died, but it is apparent her spirit lives on as the family gathers around the tree.

Pictures :