Review of The Family Stone (2005) by Justin Z — 02 Jun 2009

What a waste of a good cast. While all the actors are talented here, the film suffers from many unlikable characters, weak writing, forced bits of comedy and a generally confused tone. Sometimes the film can be optimistic and satisfyingly honest, but then there were a lot of awkwardly bittersweet and sometimes mean-spirited moments that just evaporated all of the entertainment from the room.

By that I don't mean it's bad that it was kind of depressing, but it felt out of place in a film trying to be sold as a good family comedy (even though it has almost no laughs). Wasted potential!