The Family Stone (2005)

Regisseur:

Thomas Bezucha

Drehbuchautor (WGA):

Thomas Bezucha (written by)

Premierendatum:

16. Dezember 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Komödie | Drama | Romanze

Werbezeile:

Feel The Love.

Plot:

An uptight, conservative, businesswoman accompanies her boyfriend to his eccentric and outgoing family's annual Christmas celebration and finds that she's a fish out of water in their free-spirited way of life.

Plot Keywords:

Interracial Couple | Dating | Dinner Scene | Niece | Christmas Tree

Filmpreise:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 1 win & 6 nominations

Nutzerkommentare:

A Big Fat Holiday Turkey

Besetzung

Claire Danes	...	Julie Morton
Diane Keaton	...	Sybil Stone
Rachel McAdams	...	Amy Stone
Dermot Mulroney	...	Everett Stone
Craig T. Nelson	...	Kelly Stone
Sarah Jessica Parker	...	Meredith Morton
Luke Wilson	...	Ben Stone
Tyrone Giordano	...	Thad Stone
Brian J. White	...	Patrick Thomas (as Brian White)
Elizabeth Reaser	...	Susannah Stone Trousdale
Paul Schneider	...	Brad Stevenson
Savannah Stehlin	...	Elizabeth Trousdale
Jamie Kaler	...	John Trousdale
Robert Dioguardi	...	David Silver
Carol Locatell	...	Jeweler

Alternativ:

Hating Her (USA) (working title)
Untitled Thomas Bezucha Project (USA) (working title)
Familie Stone - Verloben verboten!, Die (Österreich) (Deutschland) [de]

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some sexual content including dialogue, and drug references.

Länge:

103 Min

Produktionsland:

USA

Sprache:

Englisch | American Sign Language

Farbe:

Farbe

Seitenverhältnis:

1.85 : 1

Tonverfahren:

DTS | SDDS | Dolby Digital

Altersfreigabe:

Ireland:PG | Sweden:Btl | Argentina:Atp | Canada:G (Quebec) | Germany:6 | Singapore:PG | USA:PG-13 | Taiwan:GP | UK:PG | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | Iceland:L | Netherlands:MG6 | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Mexico:B | South Korea:15 | Australia:M | Malaysia:U | Hungary:14 | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Finland:K-3 | Portugal:M/12 | Sweden:7 | Brazil:12

Drehorte:

Connecticut, USA

Firma:

The Family Stone

Dies und das:

Billy Crudup and Johnny Knoxville were expected to play the roles of Everett and Ben Stone before dropping out. The part later went to Luke Wilson. Aaron Eckhart was first cast in the role of Everett but dropped out due to scheduling conflicts.

Pannen:

Abfolgefehler: When Everett puts the ring on Julie's finger, the father (Kelly) is looking from behind Everett. When we see Kelly from the front his glasses are on top of his head. When we see him from the side, his glasses are on his face.

Dialogzitate:

Meredith Morton: Isn't there anybody that loves me?

Bezüge zu anderen Titeln:

Verweist auf/spielt an auf/erwähnt Ulee's Gold (1997)

Soundtrack:

Jingle Bells

A Big Fat Holiday Turkey

If you've got a hankering for a good old fashioned feel-bad holiday movie, "The Family Stone" will be right up your alley. Then you may be able to enjoy this grueling story about an uptight and mostly unlikable yuppie, Meredith (Sarah Jessica Parker), being introduced to her fiancé's mostly obnoxious and unfriendly family, led by dragon-lady mom (Diane Keaton) and wet noodle dad (Craig T. Nelson, playing a complete lump of a character). I guess we're supposed to find the Stones charming, because they're liberal and are nice to their saintly gay (and deaf!) son (who's adopting a child with his black boyfriend, no less), but I just found them intolerable. Things get oh so wacky when Meredith's sister, Claire Danes, shows up to lend support and falls for Meredith's fiancé, while Meredith herself falls for the stoned slacker son (Luke Wilson) who we're supposed to believe, in a stretch of imagination that no amount of yoga will make possible, is a documentary film maker. Oh, and did I mention the cranky youngest daughter, played by Rachel McAdams, who you just might want to see stuffed and roasted along with the turkey?

This is perhaps one of the worst scripts ever put to the screen. Not one moment in this film feels genuine or even logically sound. The screenwriters drag Claire Danes into the film and then have absolutely nothing for her character to do; her "love story" with Dermot Mulroney (he of the perpetual snarl) is not the least bit developed or believable. The middle of the film nearly grinds to a halt, then lurches queasily into a mad-cap screwball comedy mode that finds the women dropping food all over themselves in the kitchen while the brothers chase each other around the house with the intention of beating each other up. And to top everything off, there's a tacky and maudlin ending that's as cheap as it is cliché.

Bah humbug to this poisonous dose of holiday cheer.

Grade: D