Film: The Family Stone

I should start by saying that this is not the sort of movie I would normally pay to go to the cinema to see, and fortunately I didn't have to as I went to a free preview tonight courtesy of See Films First at Cineworld (formerly UGC), Enfield. I'm not a great lover of feel-good movies, I prefer films that are original and make me think.

I had done a little research beforehand and discovered that the director/writer Thomas Bezucha is gay, which surely could only be a plus-point. This is his 2nd movie and he used to work in the fashion industry. I haven't seen his first movie, the gay-themed Big Eden.

On our way in to the screening we were asked to hand over our mobile phones, which was a stipulation by Twentieth Century Fox. My reaction to this request was simply :-o Yes I was gob-smacked, not only at the audacity of the request but also the stupidity. Even if someone had a phone capable of recording the whole movie, the quality would undoubtedly be awful. Besides it is not something you can hide as the light of the screen is a dead giveaway. Oddly our bags were not searched for video cameras. There was no way I was giving up my gorgeous Nokia N70, so I just said 'I don't have a mobile' and walked in unchallenged. My friend Caz did give hers up and got a raffle ticket in return.

The premise of the film is that Everett (Dermot Mulroney) goes home for Christmas and introduces his bride-to-be Meredith (Sarah Jessica Parker) to his family. However, they all hate her, with the exception of Everett's brother Ben (Luke Wilson) for a reason that is no doubt completely shallow and is never fully explained.

Good Points

• Great performances from the whole cast
  
• Rachel McAdams - I've never noticed her before, though I have seen Mean Girls, but I definitely noticed her in this. I shall have to see Red Eye, when it comes out on DVD next year.
• Claire Danes - I first noticed her in Stage Beauty and she gave a nice performance in this film.
  

Bad Points

• Predictable - within half an hour it was more than obvious how it would end.
  
• Left me feeling sad - it should carry a health warning because Christmas is a particularly hard time for anyone who has lost a family member due to terminal illness and I honestly didn't want to go to see a so-called 'feel-good' movie to be reminded of this.
  
• Heavy-handed PC attitude which pervaded the whole movie.
• Slap stick - although the scene where SJP drops 2 large dishes of her breakfast creation while getting them out of the fridge was funny, it was also stupid. Nobody in their right mind would attempt to get 2 large dishes out of the fridge.
  

Rating: 4/10