The Family Stone

2005 1h 43m English 6.3

Action, Comedy, Drama, Romance

Everett Stone, who made it on Wall Street, returns home for Christmas with his new girlfriend Meredith Morton. His ultra-liberal, anti-conventional, rustic Connecticut family doesn't exactly warm to the outsider; despite her best efforts to please the prospective in-laws, she looks, sounds, and acts like the conservative bigots they hate, while various Stones have their own problems. Only matriarch Sybil Stone's unshakable maverick son Ben gives her a chance, and as Everett won't actively turn against either, she feels more supported by him and a weird romance blossoms. Feeling beleaguered, Meredith calls in help from her easygoing sister Julie, who proves no help to her but soon develops a chemistry with Everett, so everything could shift if they dared follow their hearts.—KGF Vissers