On Friday night I found myself delightfully and completely without anything planned. Since I'm in the middle of opera rehearsals, this is a rare treat. I decided to celebrate my not-busy-ness by seeing a movie and THE FAMILY STONE was the one I chose to see.
I loved this movie. All of the actors are good, the writing is tight, the set dressing and costuming and filming were perfect, and the director managed to keep this pack of gigantic talents in one room and maintaining a consist ant, perfectly-nuanced tone. It's a Christmas movie, and a family movie, which means there's a potential for it to be a saccharin caricature or a pointlessly aggressive film. THE FAMILY STONE doesn't go in any of those directions but instead is effortlessly balanced right between in the zone called "reality." Life can be, has been, and really will be like this. Phenomenal film.
Of course, that being said, it's not going to become my favorite Christmas movie of all time since MIXED NUTS already is. And, I couldn't give it a perfect 10 because, bless his heart, Luke Wilson can't quite generate enough steam to be be charming AND a big pot-head AND a touch innocent/sleazy/nature boy. It's a tricky character and even though he's 92% of the way there, compared with the rest of the ensemble who's giving 110%, he's the weakest part. Which should give you an idea of how good this film is.
Anyway, I recommend it.
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