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27
Babylon A.D.
33
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82
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42
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20
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36
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54
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49
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34
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78
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71
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61
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65
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79
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24
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43
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35
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31
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64
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53
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53
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63
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36
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35
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51
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47
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60
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71
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70
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93
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64
Wanted
47
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54
You Don't Mess with the Zohan
93
WALL-E
82
Dark Knight, The
79
Iron Man
78
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
73
Kung Fu Panda
71
Tropic Thunder
71
Horton Hears a Who!
70
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
65
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
64
Wanted
64
Pineapple Express
63
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, The
61
Incredible Hulk, The
60
Traitor
57
Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D
55
House Bunny, The
54
You Don't Mess with the Zohan
54
Get Smart
53
Sex and the City: The Movie
53
Longshots, The
53
Rocker, The
51
Mamma Mia!
51
Step Brothers
49
Hancock
47
Swing Vote
47
X-Files: I Want to Believe, The
43
Meet Dave
42
Death Race
36
Space Chimps
36
Fly Me to the Moon
35
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
35
Mirrors
34
Happening, The
33
College
31
Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, The
27
Babylon A.D.
24
Love Guru, The
20
Disaster Movie
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

85
Alexandra
40
America the Beautiful
66
American Teen
73
Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer
xx
Bachna Ae Haseeno
62
Baghead
57
Beautiful Losers
xx
Beer for My Horses
47
Before the Rains
80
Bigger, Stronger, Faster*
56
Bottle Shock
75
Boy A
55
Bra Boys
61
Brick Lane
64
Brideshead Revisited
61
Bustin' Down the Door
49
Children of Huang Shi, The
54
CSNY: Déjà Vu
xx
Cthulhu
86
Edge of Heaven, The
66
Elegy
52
Elsa & Fred
80
Encounters at the End of the World
64
Fall, The
86
Flight of the Red Balloon, The
83
Frozen River
68
Girl Cut in Two, A
62
Girls Rock!
xx
Goal II: Living the Dream
73
Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
54
Hamlet 2
25
Hell Ride
44
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76
I Served the King of England
72
I.O.U.S. A
63
In Search of a Midnight Kiss
46
Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer
67
Jellyfish
62
Kabluey
63
Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
78
Last Mistress, The
50
Last Stop for Paul
70
Love Songs
61
Man Named Pearl, A
89
Man on Wire
87
Momma's Man
74
Mongol
46
My Mexican Shivah
80
Order of Myths, The
66
Patti Smith: Dream of Life
72
Priceless
61
Red
71
Roman de gare
78
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
51
Savage Grace
57
Sixty Six
57
Sukiyaki Western Django
83
Tell No One
56
Then She Found Me
71
To the Limit
72
Transsiberian
80
Trouble the Water
83
U2 3D
86
Up the Yangtze
79
Visitor, The
61
Wackness, The
54
What We Do Is Secret
66
When Did You Last See Your Father?
64
XXY
53
Year of the Fish
xx
Young People F**king
75
Young@Heart
89
Man on Wire
87
Momma's Man
86
Up the Yangtze
86
Edge of Heaven, The
86
Flight of the Red Balloon, The
85
Alexandra
83
U2 3D
83
Frozen River
83
Tell No One
80
Encounters at the End of the World
80
Trouble the Water
80
Bigger, Stronger, Faster*
80
Order of Myths, The
79
Visitor, The
78
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
78
Last Mistress, The
76
I Served the King of England
75
Young@Heart
75
Boy A
74
Mongol
73
Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer
73
Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
72
Priceless
72
Transsiberian
72
I.O.U.S. A
71
To the Limit
71
Roman de gare
70
Love Songs
68
Girl Cut in Two, A
67
Jellyfish
66
Elegy
66
Patti Smith: Dream of Life
66
American Teen
66
When Did You Last See Your Father?
64
Brideshead Revisited
64
XXY
64
Fall, The
63
In Search of a Midnight Kiss
63
Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
62
Kabluey
62
Baghead
62
Girls Rock!
61
Bustin' Down the Door
61
Wackness, The
61
Man Named Pearl, A
61
Red
61
Brick Lane
57
Sukiyaki Western Django
57
Sixty Six
57
Beautiful Losers
56
Bottle Shock
56
Then She Found Me
55
Bra Boys
54
Hamlet 2
54
What We Do Is Secret
54
CSNY: Déjà Vu
53
Year of the Fish
52
Elsa & Fred
51
Savage Grace
50
Last Stop for Paul
49
Children of Huang Shi, The
47
Before the Rains
46
Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer
46
My Mexican Shivah
44
Henry Poole is Here
40
America the Beautiful
25
Hell Ride
xx
Young People F**king
xx
Bachna Ae Haseeno
xx
Goal II: Living the Dream
xx
Cthulhu
xx
Beer for My Horses
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
|
Family Stone, The
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
FILM:
MPAA RATING: PG-13 for some sexual content including dialogue, and drug references
Starring
Claire Danes,
Diane Keaton,
Rachel McAdams,
Dermot Mulroney,
Craig T. Nelson,
Sarah Jessica Parker,
Luke Wilson,
and
Tyrone Giordano
The Family Stone is a story about an annual gathering of an unconventional New England family. Before the holidays are done, relationships will unravel while new ones are formed, secrets will be revealed and the Stone family will come together through its extraordinary capacity for love. (20th Century Fox)
| GENRE(S): |
Comedy
|
Drama
|
Romance
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Thomas Bezucha
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Thomas Bezucha
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: May 2, 2006
Theatrical: December 16, 2005
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
102 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
USA |

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
88
Premiere
Rachel Clarke
The Family Stone may not be super-serious or even, well, sly, but none of that matters: this is a warm and engaging film that is sure to become a perennial Christmas favorite.

75
ReelViews
James Berardinelli
This is the best adult holiday film in a while.

75
Entertainment Weekly
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Parker has a great time being the anti–Carrie Bradshaw while Keaton-as-matriarch is a particular joy -- funny, beautiful, elegant, touching, and at ease with a familiar, get-out-your-hankies holiday subplot.

75
Rolling Stone
Peter Travers
Keaton, a sorceress at blending humor and heartbreak, honors the film with a grace that makes it stick in the memory.

75
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
Silly at times, leaning toward the screwball tradition of everyone racing around the house at the same time in a panic fueled by serial misunderstandings. There is also a thoughtful side.

75
USA Today
Mike Clark
As stuffed with beguiling performances - some of them unexpectedly good - as its script is overstuffed. And though even the beguiled may feel manipulated the next morning (or when hitting the exits), the players put it over by a nose. Happy holidays.

75
New York Post
Lou Lumenick
A satisfying, big-hearted celebration of diversity that will brighten holiday moviegoing.

75
TV Guide
Maitland McDonagh
Indie director Bezucha has held on to just enough individuality to breathe a little life into the cliches.

70
Chicago Reader
Jonathan Rosenbaum
The potential for moral confusion in a liberal-minded family -- unpacked so ruthlessly in Noah Baumbach's "The Squid and the Whale" -- is scrutinized with more ambiguity in this good-natured comic subversion of the holiday get-together.

70
Slate
David Edelstein
The performances are delightful, and the picture comes together.

70
Los Angeles Times
Kenneth Turan
A film that's at times as ragged and shaggy as its family unit. But as written and directed by Thomas Bezucha, its offbeat mixture of highly choreographed comic crises and the occasional bite of reality make for an unexpectedly enticing blend.

70
Dallas Observer
Robert Wilonsky
As ridiculous, as mawkish and schizophrenic as The Family Stone is, it's also surprisingly endearing.

67
Austin Chronicle
Kimberley Jones
There are just too many damn characters, with the best ones taking a backseat to the dullish love quadrangle.

63
New York Daily News
Jami Bernard
A machine-tooled entertainment that's as fake and flimsy as a plastic Christmas tree. The only reason the movie isn't as bad as it has a right to be is the marvelous Diane Keaton.

63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Rick Groen
Popped in the oven and marked with a predictable P, The Family Stone is the Christmas cookie of Christmas movies -- this thing is so pat it should come with the recipe attached.

63
Boston Globe
Wesley Morris
The movie is a holiday romantic comedy that wants to put the holiday romantic comedy out of business.

63
Miami Herald
Connie Ogle
The Family Stone should have been a glittering holiday bauble along the lines of the irresistible Love Actually. Instead, Bezucha stuffs into our stockings what he thinks is good for us. It's not coal, but it's not entirely what we were hoping for, either.

63
Philadelphia Inquirer
Carrie Rickey
The slapstick weeper The Family Stone is a lump of coal brightened by four diamond-sharp performances.

60
Empire
Genevieve Harrison
Although in danger of being unable to decide what kind of film it wants to be, a well-written script and well-judged performances make this a family outing worth taking.

60
Salon.com
Stephanie Zacharek
If there was ever a testament to the resilience of actors, in the face of a flawed script and wonky direction, The Family Stone is it.

60
Film Threat
Michael Ferraro
Luke Wilson has done some of his best work in dramatic roles (see "The Royal Tenenbaums" for clarity) and while he is not playing an entirely serious role here, his performance is still the most engaging.

58
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Sean Axmaker
In place of the dysfunctional family Christmas story we've come to expect for the holidays, The Family Stone gives us a cheerfully uncensored, generic counterculture clan and tosses a tightly wound control freak into the center of their holiday celebration.

50
The New York Times
Manohla Dargis
The women make The Family Stone, especially Ms. Parker, whose nimble performance is reason alone to see the film: not since Philippe Petit has anyone walked a tightrope with such finesse - and in high heels, no less.

50
Newsweek
David Ansen
Lurching uncertainly from slapstick to tears, The Family Stone works hard to warm the cockles of our hearts. The cast is attractive. The sentiments are commendable. But the love Bezucha wants us to feel for the family couldn't possibly compete with the love they already feel for themselves.

50
Variety
Justin Chang
Keaton embodies the formidable Stone matriarch with an offhand sense of humor that cuts like a knife.

50
LA Weekly
Ella Taylor
A potentially interesting tale flailing haplessly in the quicksand of holiday-movie formula.

50
The Hollywood Reporter
Sheri Linden
Spends too much time on unconvincing romantic-comedy contrivances to be consistently engaging. Throughout the uneven film and its mixed bag of performances, the compelling point of focus is Diane Keaton's smart, funny, spot-on natural portrait of the formidable Stone matriarch.

50
Chicago Tribune
Allison Benedikt
Parker is pretty much a disaster here, shrill and phony and, worst of all, spineless. She reminded me of Tea Leoni in "Spanglish," her performance working against the movie, serving only as a cumbersome, opaque obstacle.

50
Baltimore Sun
Michael Sragow
The talented and quirky-pretty Sarah Jessica Parker gives an excruciating performance. It's a keenly self-conscious caricature - the bold, showy kind that often wins awards yet sends audiences running from the theater.

50
Christian Science Monitor
Peter Rainer
Could we please declare a moratorium on funny-sad movies about dysfunctional families, especially families that come together for the holidays?

50
Portland Oregonian
M. E. Russell
Almost totally emotionally bankrupt. But it's a very specific form of total emotional bankruptcy, one that feels honest and even uplifting at the time, because the actors are great and the direction's well intentioned and just-so.

40
Village Voice
Dennis Lim
It's hard to fathom why anyone would voluntarily endure a holiday family reunion movie -- a genre devised solely to demonstrate how grotesque and how heartwarming families can be--when actual holiday family reunions already exist for those very reasons.

40
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Scott Tobias
Most of it falls on Bezucha, not just for devising these monstrously cruel characters, but for putting them in situations that are far too serious to be resolved by Christmas morning. When the melodrama gets too intense, the film collapses in slapstick.

30
Washington Post
Stephen Hunter
There are many ways to define the shrieking awfulness of The Family Stone, from the general lack of wit to the cheap exploitation of cancer to its casual cruelty, but it's writer-director Thomas Bezucha's casting that really goes awry.

25
San Francisco Chronicle
Mick LaSalle
Bezucha made something perverse, a feel-bad holiday film about a repellent family, with a milquetoast dad and a smug, devious harpy of a mom.


The average user rating for this movie is 4.1 (out of 10) based on 95 User Votes
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