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A Word on The Family Stone

Just got back from seeing The Family Stone with the fam. While it doesn't rise to the level of my favorite film of this year, Junebug (also about a quirky family tepidly welcoming a frosty fiancee), it's a pleasing holiday movie. And before you ladies out there get suspicious, my g.f., sister and mother all loved the movie. So it's both dude- and chick-friendly (bros, take the op at weepy parts to get in touch with your sensitive side).

Some notes: Writer-director Thomas Bezucha, of whom I had not before heard, shows precocious steady-handedness in balancing comedic and maudlin elements, plus many characters whose quirks must've beckoned for easy laughs. Not to belabor this point any more than everyone else, but: Rachel McAdams has really arrived this year, holding her own in Wedding Crashers and fooling many critics into thinking Red Eye was a good movie. She's great again here. Give that girl an A-list vehicle!

About J. Ott

John Ott is a writer, filmmaker and futurist. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Google+.