reviewed by: Charity Bishop

          

When I first saw the trailers for this around Christmas, I thought it looked fantastic. It had a good cast and seemingly cute, quirky storyline that implied it was a carefree holiday romantic comedy... and it is, for about the first half hour, before it takes a significantly darker and more controversial turn.

The Stone family are accustomed to their traditions. A close-knit and affectionate group, they accept one another freely for who they are rather than being judgmental. But that does not hold true with outsiders, most particularly the woman their son Everett (Dermot Mulroney) is seeing. The younger sister Amy (Rachel McAdams) believes that she is "self-centered and horrible." Mother Sybil (Diane Keaton) is determined to disapprove no matter what happens. Dad (Tyrone Giordano) doesn't care one way or the other. Little does Meredith (Sarah Jessica Parker) know that she's walking into a hornet's nest. Understandably terrified of meeting her potential future in-laws, she chatters on throughout the evening, boring them to tears and making more than one faux-pa.

When Amy brings her to tears and the rest of the family is revealed to be subtly hostile, in desperation she sends for her younger sister Julie (Claire Danes) in order to have an alley in the house. The only Stone seemingly determined to adore her is carefree Ben (Luke Wilson). Everyone else is pleading with Everett not to pop the big question Christmas morning. His mother even refuses to give him the family engagement ring. But Julie's arrival only creates more chaos because... the family loves her. They love everything about her, from her soft brown eyes to the endless compliments she pays them. Worst of all, her innocent charm has begun to worm its way into Everett's heart. There were numerous things I didn't like about this film, from the way its humor contained a biting undertone to the attempt at a happy ending for everyone that just felt painful. The humiliations and insults Amy and her family heap upon the nervous Meredith are not funny but cruel. I felt genuinely bad for her, and that's not good in a romantic comedy.

You weren't quite sure who the bad guys were -- was it Meredith with her bumbling and offensive remarks, or Sybil with her judgmental, narrow-minded attitude? I think we were supposed to feel sorry for her, since most of her behavior seems to stem from the illness that will soon take her life, but I didn't feel empathy for her as much as abhorrence for her selfish and intentionally hurtful behavior. The film also contained a deliberately nasty stab at traditional ideas of morality. When Meredith refuses to sleep in the same room as Everett, her future mother in law laughs at her. This also "modern" mother remarks that she hoped all of her sons would be gay (one of them is -- his boyfriend is accepted without question) so that they would never leave her. In a painful and horrific dinner table scene, Meredith manages to upset everyone in the room by inquiring if she is serious, and making dreadful, insensitive remarks about homosexuality, painting the only more "cautious" individual in the room in an extremely bad light. Everyone else thinks it's fantastic that Thad (Tyrone Giordano) and Patrick (Brian White) are in the market for adopting a child. 

After that all other content issues pretty much pale in comparison, but Meredith wakes up naked (implied) in Ben's bed and naturally assumes she slept with him (she didn't). There are around five uses of God's name coupled with a profanity, one abuse of Jesus' name, and other mild profanities. Meredith gets roaring drunk at one point, and remarks that they should score some pot. Ben is warned against having it in the house. I cannot say too much about the ending for fear of spoilers, but it didn't feel right. Most of the film in the second half felt painful, and was throbbing with a pro-homosexual agenda (the gay couple are the only ones not having "issues"). It would have been much better with a little less controversial choices from all involved.