What’s the best Christmas movie to watch the week of Christmas? That’s a difficult question to ask with so many holiday options to watch at one’s fingertips.
However, as the streaming experts that we are, Watch With Us does want to attempt to offer a definitive answer. For us, there’s no better Christmas movie to watch this week than The Family Stone.
Streaming on Hulu, the movie follows the eccentric Stone family, whose eldest son interrupts holiday proceedings by bringing his stuffy new girlfriend to meet them.
We break down why The Family Stone should be your new Christmas staple.
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It’s the Perfect “Comfort Food’ Christmas Movie
“Comfort food” is food that isn’t necessarily great for you, but it tastes nice and makes you feel good, too. That’s kinda how you could describe The Family Stone: it’s not a cinema masterpiece by any means, but it’s a sweet, sugary and comforting holiday viewing. The plot follows Everett Stone (Dermot Mulroney), who brings his girlfriend, Meredith (Sarah Jessica Parker), home with him to meet his family over Christmas. However, the Stone family is a lot to handle for a normal person, and doubly so for someone as uptight and nervous as Meredith.
The movie has a lot of cringeworthy moments, and its tackling of race and LGBTQ issues may seem a bit contrived and cringey by today’s standards. Plus, the way the Stone family picks on Meredith just feels so excessive — why do they hate how shy and awkward she is? Why do they care if she wants to take a private phone call? Why do they hate her more when she tries to be nice to them?? The absurdity of the situations ends up adding to the unique charm of the movie. The movie’s world isn’t realistic, but movies aren’t meant to be real life, now are they?
The Ensemble Cast Portrays a Big, Messy Family Realistically
Despite The Family Stone’s blatant absurdities, the way it depicts a sprawling family dealing with one another in close quarters over the holidays is instantly relatable. The Stone family includes Everett’s caustic sister Amy (Rachel McAdams), his other sister Susannah (Elizabeth Reaser) who’s married with one kid and another on the way; affable stoner brother Ben (Luke Wilson), deaf brother Thad (Ty Giordano) and Thad’s husband, Patrick (Brian White); and their parents, the bohemian but highly judgmental Sybil (Diane Keaton) and the easygoing Kelly (Craig T. Nelson).
Fans of The Family Stone who know the score of having a big, dysfunctional family are able to connect with the portrayal of the Stone family. In spite of the nonstop chaos, clashing personalities and even some physical brawls, the Stone family deeply loves one another and cherishes the time they spend together over the holidays. But it also does a good job (with some noted exaggerations) of conveying how difficult and scary it can be to be an outsider attempting to encroach upon this tight-knit dynamic. The traditions and quirks of a big family can seem alien if you don’t understand them, and Meredith encapsulates that experience.
‘The Family Stone’ Balances Screwball Comedy With Serious Drama
One of the best scenes in The Family Stone is when Meredith attempts to remove her two batches of breakfast eggs out from the refrigerator and ends up spilling them all over herself and all over the floor, a mess that eventually ensnares both Amy and Sybil, and ends with the three of them laughing in a big heap while Everett and Ben simultaneously fight with one another right next to them. That’s the kind of humor that the movie leans on: zany, fast-paced, everyone running around like chickens with their heads cut off, which is furthered by constant misunderstandings.
But the movie has a sweet side that will overtake you before you know it. Between Meredith’s exhaustion at feeling like an unloved pariah (her screaming “Isn’t there anybody that loves me?” is both hilarious and sad), and the ultimate reveal that Sybil’s breast cancer has returned, the film might seem mawkish to some, but this emotional core ends up giving The Family Stone a bite of reality. No family is perfect, but despite their conflicts and the loss that they endure, they still have to stick together.
Stream The Family Stone now on Hulu.
