The Family Stone (2005) or, Meredith Did Nothing Wrong, You Jerks!!!

[Ms Blue Jay]

Hmm, ok, I'll pay attention for this next time.  I was under the impression that we never saw him!

[Brn2bwild]

43 minutes ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

Hmm, ok, I'll pay attention for this next time.  I was under the impression that we never saw him!

His appearance is random, as if it were meant for a character actor's cameo, but I don't know the actor.

I'm surprised the movie didn't do more with the nice sister.  But then, I guess if she had intervened and been kind to Meredith, there wouldn't have been a movie.

ETA: There was also a random scene where the nice sister was talking to her husband over the phone, and Kelly comes in to talk to her, and seems almost jealous. If there was some subplot where the Stones' dad was jealous his favorite daughter loved someone else, it was pretty underdeveloped.

Edited December 12, 2021 by Brn2bwild

[chitowngirl]

If you took Elizabeth Reaser out of this movie, would anything be different? Did she move the plot along at any point??

[FemmyV]

Re-watching for the first time in several years and I'm struck by how far ahead of its time this film/script is, and still will be for a few years. Still hate these people.

Meredith got so much shit for not being woke, but she knew enough to cut through to what was important. That it's easier for a straight person to navigate a world that didn't quite know what to do with gay people shouldn't have been a horrific thing to say. Pointing to Patrick to get to 'black' wouldn't have been awkward for people who were truly comfortable with his skin color. The portrait of Sybill brought everyone to tears because they weren't dealing with what was important, yet for Meredith it was an uncomplicated no-brainer.

That the family refuses to accept her for their #1 son, who is Going Places, but is a-okay having her hook up with the one who has more in common with Bart Simpson .. just, wow. I don't know why she stayed with them.

 

 

 

[FemmyV]

On 2/9/2020 at 2:03 PM, kiddo82 said:

They all know why.  Because she's ignorant and a rude in that moment.  But it's also a mistake that could be made by anyone who hasn't had much interaction with someone who is hearing impaired. The problem is that the family decided they already didn't like her and instead of giving her the benefit of the doubt they assumed it was coming from an intolerant place.

This is where I default to "Everett's a clueless douche." He knows what his bro has had to put up with and could have clued Meredith in, and chose not to. There are a number of things he could have told her about his family, to prepare her, and chose not to.

[Wiendish Fitch]

Hmmm, upon reflection, I feel that maybe I was a pinch too easy on Meredith in the naming of this topic*, so does anyone know how I can edit the title of topics?

 

*THOUGH THE STONES ARE STILL HORRIBLE PEOPLE AND I HATE THEM.

[Spartan Girl]

1 hour ago, Wiendish Fitch said:

Hmmm, upon reflection, I feel that maybe I was a pinch too easy on Meredith in the naming of this topic*, so does anyone know how I can edit the title of topics?

 

*THOUGH THE STONES ARE STILL HORRIBLE PEOPLE AND I HATE THEM.

Maybe you can leave the title the way it is. Meredith, while guilty of being tactless and saying stupid shit, still didn’t deserve all that.

[Wiendish Fitch]

17 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

Maybe you can leave the title the way it is. Meredith, while guilty of being tactless and saying stupid shit, still didn’t deserve all that.

Eh, fair enough.🙂

[Spartan Girl]

45 minutes ago, Wiendish Fitch said:

Eh, fair enough.🙂

Really, show me a person who has never said anything ignorant and/or hurtful in their life and I’ll show you either a liar or someone with a very short memory.

And at least it was implied that Meredith become more open-minded at the end, which is more than I can say for the Stones, who probably stayed the same judgmental assholes they always were. Though sticking career woman Meredith with slacker Ben is a tiresome trope, regardless of the likability of Luke Wilson.

[Brn2bwild]

7 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

Really, show me a person who has never said anything ignorant and/or hurtful in their life and I’ll show you either a liar or someone with a very short memory.

And at least it was implied that Meredith become more open-minded at the end, which is more than I can say for the Stones, who probably stayed the same judgmental assholes they always were. Though sticking career woman Meredith with slacker Ben is a tiresome trope, regardless of the likability of Luke Wilson.

And she works in Manhattan, while he works/lives in Berkeley.  Geographically how would their relationship work other than as long distance?

Edited December 17, 2021 by Brn2bwild

[BetterButter]

On falling in love with The Family Stone

Quote

This Christmas, give the divisive 2005 romantic comedy a second chance

 

[Spartan Girl]

4 hours ago, BetterButter said:

On falling in love with The Family Stone

 

Well, at least she acknowledged the Stones are horrible to Meredith. And that the whole Julie/Everett stuff was contrived and unbelievable.

[EtheltoTillie]

On 12/16/2021 at 1:32 PM, Wiendish Fitch said:

Hmmm, upon reflection, I feel that maybe I was a pinch too easy on Meredith in the naming of this topic*, so does anyone know how I can edit the title of topics?

 

*THOUGH THE STONES ARE STILL HORRIBLE PEOPLE AND I HATE THEM.

They were showing this on Bravo the other day, so I decided to rewatch based on having seen this forum title.  Just as cringey as ever. 

[Shermie]

On 12/14/2021 at 5:08 PM, chitowngirl said:

If you took Elizabeth Reaser out of this movie, would anything be different? Did she move the plot along at any point??

No. She is to The Family Stone what Indiana Jones is to Raiders of the Lost Ark.

However, regarding her absent husband, I thought he was in the armed forces or something and was posted abroad. 

My biggest question about this movie is why was Everett with Meredith in the first place? Even if they’re both career-minded, big city people, it doesn’t explain why someone raised in such a liberal bingo-card family would be attracted to such an uptight conservative woman?

[Spartan Girl]

16 hours ago, Shermie said:

My biggest question about this movie is why was Everett with Meredith in the first place? Even if they’re both career-minded, big city people, it doesn’t explain why someone raised in such a liberal bingo-card family would be attracted to such an uptight conservative woman?

Two words: plot contrivance.

[pinkandsparkly13]

Well Everett seemed kinda boring. He wasn't as interesting as some of his family members, imo. And who knows what his relationship with Meredith was like otherwise. Nobody knows what goes on behind closed doors.

[Gharlane]

I noticed this was playing while channel surfing this past weekend. Nope, not going to watch it!

[izabella]

I can't rewatch this one, either.  Almost everyone is unpleasant or annoying, and something appalling is going on throughout.  And the ending is not satisfying or cathartic or funny.

[txhorns79]

On 12/29/2022 at 9:27 PM, izabella said:

And the ending is not satisfying or cathartic or funny.

It's ridiculous that Meredith is treated like she is poison for Everett, but no one bats an eyelash when she is reassigned (I use that term because the pairing seems more about contrivance and proximity than any real suggestion of chemistry) to Ben.  

[heatherchandler]

On 5/29/2017 at 7:26 PM, Spartan Girl said:

 

This is why I cut Meredith slack for the dinner scene. For whatever prejudices she had, Meredith was nothing but polite to the brother -- and not in the patronizing "look at how nonracist I am" way, just polite. Yet Rachel McAdams and the mother, from what I could see, kept baiting Meredith with politics, deliberately provoking her for a reaction. What Meredith said was stupid, but did she really deserve that harridan screaming "GOD DAMN YOU"?

Plus, Everett knew she had conservative views. If he had such an issue with it, why did he date her in the first place? Dickwad.

This is from a LONG time ago, but I remembered watching this movie and hating it.  So of course when I saw it was on I watched it again.  

When asshole Mom screams "GOD DAMN YOU!"  Oh my god.  And then the Dad screams at her "THAT'S ENOUGH!!!"  I was like wtf?  Horrible, horrible people!  Meredith was just clumsy with her words, jesus, calm down.  And then when Mom says to the deaf son, "I love you," and he pretends to be upset, then she says it again and he is like, ok!  What?

I am basically just recounting the horrid scene that everyone else seems to hate too!  But it really is a doozy.

I read the synopsis somewhere and the family is described as a "bohemian, Connecticut family."  That is not what I got from them in this movie.  Unless I am out of touch with bohemian families from CT.

 

 

[Wiendish Fitch]

6 hours ago, heatherchandler said:

I read the synopsis somewhere and the family is described as a "bohemian, Connecticut family."  That is not what I got from them in this movie.  Unless I am out of touch with bohemian families from CT.

"Bohemian" my ass! Yeah, what bohemian person doesn't live in a tree-lined, picket fence suburb that would make Norman Rockwell vomit, in what has to be a nearly million dollar house, in the eighth most expensive state in America?!?!?

[izabella]

It's amazing how offensive this movie is on so many levels.  Nobody behaved like a real person would.

[Tatum]

On 1/13/2023 at 5:11 PM, heatherchandler said:

This is from a LONG time ago, but I remembered watching this movie and hating it.  So of course when I saw it was on I watched it again.  

When asshole Mom screams "GOD DAMN YOU!"  Oh my god.  And then the Dad screams at her "THAT'S ENOUGH!!!"  I was like wtf?  Horrible, horrible people!  Meredith was just clumsy with her words, jesus, calm down. 

 

 

That's what I thought. I could see how referring to being gay as "not normal" would be offensive, but given the long and winding sputtering she was doing beforehand, it was pretty clear she meant that gay people are treated poorly many times in their lives due to being gay and she did not understand why any mom would hope her kids would have to struggle that way.

 

I think the root of Amy's animosity towards Meredith is that she simply doesn't like people who aren't in her family. In a deleted scene, Luke Wilson tells Amy she needs to give other people outside of the family a chance. Thad's husband alludes to being disliked by Amy in the beginning. And I think Sybil and Amy's incredibly warm reception of Julie was just a super immature way to let Meredith know just how unwelcome and disliked Meredith was. 

Sybil and Amy were straight up evil. I couldn't believe the scene when Meredith walks in, and Sybil covers her mouth with her hand to hide her snickering, like a bitchy teenager would.

 

And although Susannah was mildly nicer to Meredith than the other two, I couldn't believe when her bratty, thieving daughter swipes Meredith's expensive shoes, breaks off the heel, and Susannah was like,oh  um, sorry, uh...we might have some glue? Really? Really?

 

I still like the movie though, although generally on a rewatch, I skip the Christmas Eve dinner scene.