'Family Stone' is a syrupy mess

Apart from being politically correct and more than a bit saccharine, "The Family Stone" is a film that I really tried to like. The cast is very impressive with the likes of Sarah Jessica Parker, Diane Keaton, Luke Wilson, etc., and it is set at Christmastime, which in itself lends a certain amount of cheer and warmth, but the more I thought about this film after I left the theater, the more I felt as if I had been had.

Presented as a yuletide homecoming, several siblings, along with a few significant others, gather at the family home in a cozy, snow-covered New England town to celebrate the holidays.

The eldest son, Everett, played by a ruggedly handsome Dermot Mulroney, brings along Meredith, his uptight, career girl fiancee (Parker) into a zany, upscale, hippy household that seems (surprise, surprise) predisposed to despise her.

Meredith further antagonizes the situation by placing her foot in her mouth in a set-up scene where she makes ill-timed remarks about Everett's younger brother, a gay, deaf-mute, who also happens to have a black boyfriend. Sound obvious? You bet.

Keaton as Sybil, the mother of this reassembled clan, is a miserable soul, the leader of the anti-Meredith brigade and resident poisoner-of-the-well. She alternates between rude and sweet and responds to innocent queries with foul-mouthed gratuitous remarks.

At a turning point in this story, the audience is expected to regard her character with a certain amount of pity, but one could easily muster more sympathy for a vampire, a pasty, ghoulish Bela Lugosi biting the throat of a sleeping maid.

"The Family Stone" is a film beset with a lot of problems, not the least of which is the predictability of the plot turns. Predictability in plot structure isn't necessarily a handicap if some unique scene building is used along the way, but screenwriter/director Thomas Bezucha apparently decided on the unsophisticated approach. As a result, the ending of this syrupy tale is telegraphed from a long way off.

"The Family Stone" is a disappointing film that drips with political correctness and it has enough schmaltz to aggravate your sweet tooth. Don't even bother to rent this one.

* JEFF KLEMZAK is a movie buff from La Crescenta.

20060125gxkkb2ke(LA)Jeff Klemzak