Parents' Guide to

The Family Stone

By Cynthia Fuchs, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 15+

Bittersweet story won't appeal to younger teens.

Movie PG-13 2005 102 minutes
The Family Stone Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

See all
age 15+

Based on 1 parent review

Ryan B.
Ryan B. Parent of 11 and 13-year-old
December 3, 2021
age 15+

Such a great family movie for older or more mature teens.

This movie shows a very diverse family and the the issues they face. There are a lot of good talking points for families. Tolerance, self esteem, goodwill towards others and many other great topics that promote strong morals and values. We laughed, we cried and we really rooted for the family. It’s a family that could represent any one of us because we are all different and should be accepting of one another.

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
See all 1 parent review

What's the Story?

In THE FAMILY STONE, the liberal-leaning, proud Stones are upset when good boy Everett (Dermot Mulroney) brings home a bad fiancée. Granted, Meredith (Sarah Jessica Parker) doesn't mean to be bad. In fact, she tries very hard to be liked. But she's just tense, fretful, and sometimes ignorant, making her a target for the free-thinking Stones. The family includes parents Sybil (Diane Keaton) and Kelly (Craig T. Nelson), and the kids: deaf Thad (Tyrone Giordano) and his African American partner Patrick (Brian J. White), pregnant Susannah (Elizabeth Reaser) and her charmingly brainy daughter Elizabeth (Savannah Stehlin), pot-smoking documentary filmmaker Ben (Luke Wilson), and the wittily "mean one," Amy (Rachel McAdams). Before such judges, every word Meredith speaks seems to indict her. Only Ben supports her. He encourages her: "You have the freak flag, you just don't fly it." Flying that flag will prove Meredith's salvation.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (1):
Kids say (6):

Thomas Bezucha's film means well and offers fine performances, but is in the end tripped up by holiday-family-gathering movie clichés. The point of The Family Stone isn't really measuring up, though this is, of course, the presumption of Christmas-family-gathering movies.

While it provides pleasurable moments (Susannah watching Judy Garland sing in Meet Me in St. Louis on TV, Brad finding the perfect gift for Amy), The Family Stone is, finally, less brave than Meredith, resorting at last to cookie-cutter resolutions like slapsticky fights and everyone's-happy couplings.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the family relationships. How do the kids' behaviors resemble their parents'? How do the Stones come to see their presumed open-mindedness as insular and judgmental? How might Meredith's transformation from tense to sociable (here pushed along by a night of drinking), be achieved in a less stereotypical way?

Movie Details

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

See all recommended movie lists

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

See how we rate