2025 Blind Spot Series: The Family Stone

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Official Synopsis: An uptight businesswoman (Sarah Jessica Parker) accompanies her boyfriend (Dermot Mulroney)to his eccentric and outgoing family's annual Christmas celebration and finds that she's a fish out of water in their free-spirited way of life.

20 years is a little "young" to be a Blind Spot, but we're approaching the holiday season and this film always gets brought up in annual Christmas lists. I was never compelled to watch this back then, but now I'm curious to see what I've been missing.

On one hand, this film is surprisingly progressive for its time. I wasn't expecting there to be a gay couple ( Tyrone Giodano and Brian White) much less a gay couple where one of then men is deaf?! We love that representation (though it is painfully obvious no one in this film aside from Giodano actually knows sign language) I also loved bratty Rachel McAdams, and that the closest thing this film gets to a love scene is between the oldest couple. (Diane Keaton and Craig T Nelson) There's small touches throughout that I really appreciated. And overall, I enjoyed this film, but I had one big problem with it and unfortunately I have to use spoilers to discuss it. 

None of the couples in this movie have any chemistry. It makes sense that Parker and Mulroney don't. After all, the film is essentially about how they DON'T work as a couple. And admittedly, I don't care for either of them as actors, so that didn't help, but I did not buy for one single second Luke Wilson's character falling in love with her, and Claire Danes falling in love with him. Wilson's character comes on to Parker's so hard, so early that he ends up looking desperately horny. Even after they spend time together, it still doesn't make sense that they would end up together. Opposites don't attract that much.

And Danes? She also looks confused on why her character is falling for Mulroney's. She's very charming in this, but whenever she has to go one on one with Mulroney she just looks like she's waiting for the director to yell "psych!" instead. It's a weird performance from her. 

I suppose this does have everything a holiday film needs. Holiday cheer, Judy Garland singing "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" shenanigans, tear jerking moments, but this one definitely isn't making it into my list of favorites.

Grade: C

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