Dermot Mulroneyas Everett StoneThe story
About The Family Stone
A buttoned-up city businesswoman goes home with her boyfriend to meet his large, liberal and fiercely close family over Christmas, knowing he plans to propose. They take against her almost at once, she calls in her sister for support, and over a few chaotic days the couples reshuffle while the family faces a hidden piece of grief.
The CineClaus verdict
A family homecoming that happens to fall at Christmas, and Thanksgiving could have carried it with very little rewriting. The family is spiky and unkind to the outsider for a long stretch, and some viewers never forgive them for it. Stay with it. Diane Keaton holds the whole thing together and Sarah Jessica Parker is braver than the part deserves.
The grief underneath lands harder than the farce on top. Best saved for the evening after meeting a partner's parents, when a worse first impression than yours will feel like a gift.
The family desk
Can the kids watch?
Our take: rated PG for mild language, sex references and drug references. Nothing here will frighten anyone, but those jokes and a mother's terminal illness make it better suited to teenagers than to young children.
BBFC advice: Contains mild language, sex references and drug references.
Content advice & accessibility
- Where the advice comes from
- The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC).
- Our age guidance
- Editorial, separate from the official PG certificate, and never looser than it.
