It's very obvious from the start how this movie will go and what the end of it will be. The cast is great to watch but there are no character challenges here really - not that there is a need in that either. It is all good to the certain point when the clichés overwhelm the script so much that you are not even able to take seriously enough to drop a tear for the film's another tragic storyline of a dying mother Stone (Diane Keaton) who has not revealed to her kids that cancer is taking her life and it's it their last Christmas with her.
The main plot is simple. A serious well-to-do son Everett(Dermot Mulroney) brings his soon-to-be-bride girlfriend Meredith (Sarah Jessica Parker seems to have fallen into the trap of being type-casted as a neurotic yet stylish woman from New York) for his family's approval. She is disliked even before she steps her foot into the house - that is a premise for series of comedic situations when you witness the clash of personalities as well as their insecurities. Think "Junebug" but very 2-D. Amy, one of the sisters (Rachel McAdams) immediately makes Meredith's stay practically impossible by being the bitchiest family member while Ben (Luke Wilson), a free-spirited son (and predictably the opposite of Everett) lays his eyes and sees the good in Meredith even though she makes many tactless, sometimes even horrid mistakes contributing to the fact of being disliked by each member of the diverse Stone family. Diverse it is indeed, there is also a deaf gay brother and and his African-American boyfriend planning to adopt a child - they are a subject of one of the pivotal scenes in the movie when a little bit of a political message is brought up and it shows that The Stones are worthy of their last name by sticking up for each other and also there is pregnant sister (a character that is absolutely unnecessary and is in the movie to fill "the more- the merrier" cliché of family films). Claire Danes plays the easiest role of her career - Julie, Meredith's sister, who arrives to support her sister in a difficult time of trying be liked and predictably finds love in the family. Avoiding to reveal too much of the movie that gets sappier and sappier towards the end and runs out of comedy too soon, I would like to note that overall the film has a positive and kind message but we have seen it all before.
The main plot is simple. A serious well-to-do son Everett(Dermot Mulroney) brings his soon-to-be-bride girlfriend Meredith (Sarah Jessica Parker seems to have fallen into the trap of being type-casted as a neurotic yet stylish woman from New York) for his family's approval. She is disliked even before she steps her foot into the house - that is a premise for series of comedic situations when you witness the clash of personalities as well as their insecurities. Think "Junebug" but very 2-D. Amy, one of the sisters (Rachel McAdams) immediately makes Meredith's stay practically impossible by being the bitchiest family member while Ben (Luke Wilson), a free-spirited son (and predictably the opposite of Everett) lays his eyes and sees the good in Meredith even though she makes many tactless, sometimes even horrid mistakes contributing to the fact of being disliked by each member of the diverse Stone family. Diverse it is indeed, there is also a deaf gay brother and and his African-American boyfriend planning to adopt a child - they are a subject of one of the pivotal scenes in the movie when a little bit of a political message is brought up and it shows that The Stones are worthy of their last name by sticking up for each other and also there is pregnant sister (a character that is absolutely unnecessary and is in the movie to fill "the more- the merrier" cliché of family films). Claire Danes plays the easiest role of her career - Julie, Meredith's sister, who arrives to support her sister in a difficult time of trying be liked and predictably finds love in the family. Avoiding to reveal too much of the movie that gets sappier and sappier towards the end and runs out of comedy too soon, I would like to note that overall the film has a positive and kind message but we have seen it all before.