1480 - The Family Stone

The second film of my little Christmas marathon! I first saw this film when it was in theatres and it just knocked my socks off. I have to say that poking around the old inter-web I was amazed to see that there are some people that just absolutely hate this film. And while I know that there are millions of opinions about millions of subjects I guess I always just find it strange when I discover that something that hits me so strongly can be dismissed by people. That's ridiculously small minded of me, but there it is...

For those of you who don't know, I lost my mother around Christmas time when I was a teenager, and so Christmas sucked for a number of years. The day was always lovely, of course, but there was always this... absence that came along with it. But the years go on, as they do, and Christmas became Christmas again. And it seems that it was at that time when this film came out, and for those of you more intimate with the storyline, you know that there's a thread involving the mother. So this film hit me pretty hard, and in a weird way connected it all for me. I saw this film initially with my father and I think it was hard for him as well, but also a bit cathartic. I don't think we ever talked about it, but we both knew. So I might have some bias towards this film, but I'm okay with that.

I love films about dysfunctional families, and I like Christmas films to boot, so this one was easy to decide to revisit during my little festive watching. A man brings him his uptight girlfriend to meet his tight-knit family and they do not approve of it. Hilarity and heart ensue. This film is one of those that have an amazing, jealousy worthy, ensemble casts. From the always lovely Diane Keaton, to Craig T. Nelson, to Sarah Jessica Parker, Claire Danes, Luke Wilson (who I'm normally 'meh' on, but love here) to my personal highlight, the wonderful Rachel McAdams - this cast is just chalk full of people that I would love to work with.

So this isn't your traditional Christmas film (who knows if I'll actually get around to watching any of 'those') but this is the kind of film that I think if you haven't seen it, you just might dig it. The cast alone makes it worth checking out, but the story is what's going to make it work for you. Great characters, great writing, wonderful film.