I’m not usually one to make assumptions, but I have a feeling that people fall into one of two camps whenever The Family Stone is brought up: they either forgot it existed entirely or hated it so much the first time around they blocked it from their memory. Until recently, I fell into that latter group.
Having watched The Family Stone, and hating it when my wife and I first started dating, I recently went back and revisited what some would consider to be a cringe Christmas movie. And guess what – I actually liked it! This doesn’t mean I consider it one of the best Christmas movies of all time or an all-time great rom-com, but knowing how things shake out for the Stone family and having a better understanding of what they’re going through when their son brings home a girl totally not right for him, it was a completely different experience.
Knowing What The Stone Family Is Going Through Adds So Much Context
For about the first two-thirds of my first watch-through of The Family Stone, I kept wondering why the Stone family, primarily Sybil (Diane Keaton) and Amy (Rachel McAdams), were being downright awful to Meredith Morton (Sarah Jessica Parker). But in the final stretch of the movie, we learn that not only was Sybil sick with cancer, but she was also dying, and this was to be her final Christmas.
Now, I’m not defending how rude, crude, and mean-spirited they are to Everett’s (Dermot Mulroney) girlfriend throughout the movie, but they’re clearly going through a lot. Like, “We’re about to lose our mom and the family matriarch to cancer” level of stress. Knowing all of that turns The Family Stone from a cranky Christmas movie about a family not willing to accept a son’s girlfriend to a stirring drama about a family trying to keep things together on the eve of tragedy.
Though The Movie Is Still Nerve-Racking, It’s Not As Bad The Second Time Around
Like a lot of movies with uncomfortable family dynamics, The Family Stone is quite nerve-racking. And while that fact remains true during the second viewing of this movie that’s impossible to watch without crying, it’s honestly not as bad as it was the first go around. Scenes like the tense family dinner, where Meredith just can’t shut up, are still cringe-worthy and make me want to sink into my couch and never come back out, but nowhere near as bad as they initially seemed.
While the family teaming up against Meredith (even when she kind of deserves it at times) can be a little much, knowing when and where those moments come makes the experience a little more palatable the second time around. And knowing how things end for everyone makes the sting not hurt as bad. Well, unless you’re talking about the ending, because that absolutely breaks me.
The Family Stone is currently streaming for anyone with an Amazon Prime subscription. If you haven’t already, I think you should give this sad, sappy, and sometimes funny Christmas movie another chance.
