The Family Stone

Meredith Morton & Everett Stone are a socialite couple in Manhattan, but when Everett takes Meredith home for Christmas she clashes with his family so badly that Meredith refuses to stay at the house and calls her sister Julie in to help her out. While Everett tries to convince his mother to give him his grandmothers engagement ring so he can propose to Meredith the rest of the family becomes more and more sure that Everett & Meredith should not get married.

The Family Stone is a film I really wanted to see because of the cast. There are great actors littered throughout this film and all of them are actors that I enjoy greatly. However, I was very disappointed in The Family Stone.

While watching The Family Stone I got the impression that the film thought it was a quirky comedy with a slightly dark underlining. However, I almost didn’t get through more than half an hour of The Family Stone because the film is downright angry and depressing. These characters are really horrible people. Without any explanation more than one or two lines of dialogue you find out one character dislikes Meredith and the rest of the Stone family (who has never met her) immediately begins to hate on her. After about half a movie of being a really boring person Meredith turns out to be downright insulting and continues to say really horrible things to members of the family or scream at people. Not a single character in this film is developed or likeable. The only reason I watched the entire film is because I felt the need to see if possible the ending redeemed the film. It doesn’t.

The ending of the film is almost worse than the rest of the film. It’s a complete and total cop out. Again the writing and direction leave much to be desired. Rather than finding a way to motivate all of our characters into their conclusion a few lines of dialogue are delivered about couples breaking up, other couples share longing looks and then we flash to the next Christmas where all the issues are magically resolved and we’re never told how or why.

No family real or fictional can solve the kind of problems the Stone family had that Christmas in the course of twelve months. It’s just not possible, especially after the rest of the film built up nothing but an intense hatred for Meredith.

I know I’ve probably insulted a ton of people that absolutely adore this holiday movie and think I’m completely wrong in my analysis. To those I say this: can you tell me why these characters deserved an hour and half of my time?

Director & Writer: Thomas Bezucha
Julie Morton: Claire Danes
Sybil Stone: Diane Keaton
Amy Stone: Rachel McAdams
Everett Stone: Dermot Mulroney
Kelly Stone: Craig T. Nelson
Meredith Morton: Sarah Jessica Parker
Ben Stone: Luke Wilson
Thad Stone: Tyrone Giordano
Patrick Thomas: Brian J. White
Susannah Stone Trousdale: Elizabeth Reaser

Meredith: What's so great about you guys?
Sybil: Uh, nothing... it's just that we're all that we've got.

The Proposal

Sandra_Bullock_in_The_Proposal
Originally uploaded by mykiru isyusero

Margaret is an executive at a high powered publishing company and is known for being ruthless. Andrew is her handsome, adorable assistant that she tortures daily while he waits patiently for a promotion to editor and possibly a chance to have his manuscript published. However, Margaret is Canadian and unexpectedly she has her visa revoked and is told she will be removed from her job while in Canada reapplying for her visa. In desperation Margaret tells the partners that she and Andrew are engaged and the two being to engage in deceiving an immigration officer in the hopes that Margaret and Andrew can marry long enough for her to be granted citizenship. What Margaret doesn’t count on is meeting Andrew’s family in Alaska and what that will change in her grand plans.

The Proposal was a cute movie; it wasn’t worth buying, or seeing twice, but it also didn’t bore me – that’s actually pretty good for a romantic comedy. I laughed when I was supposed to laugh, and fell a little in love with the characters, the only thing I never really saw was the relationship. Most of the time this would be a killer for a review of a romantic comedy, but Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds brought a lot of chemistry and were incredibly personable characters, and this is what made the film work, even though I did not see the romance in their relationship.

I have to say that the more I see him in the more I adore Ryan Reynolds. The man has a personality, charisma and humor that radiates from any character he plays and somehow doesn’t detract from his portrayal. The closest thing I can equate him to is a classic star like Clark Gable – you watch him perform and you are aware you are watching an actor, but you still see the mastery of the role.

As a date movie, or a distraction The Proposal is a movie to see. I don’t know if it will have much in the way of legs on DVD, but it’s definitely worth seeing at least once.

Director: Anne Fletcher
Writer: Pete Chiarelli
Margaret Tate: Sandra bullock
Andrew Paxton: Ryan Reynolds
Grace Paxton: Mary Steenburgen
Joe Paxton: Craig T. Nelson
Grandma Annie: Betty White
Gertrude: Malin Akerman

Margaret Tate: What am I allergic to?
Andrew Paxton: Pine nuts, and the full spectrum of human emotion.