The Family Stone is a 2005 American
comedy-drama film written and directed by
Thomas Bezucha. It is an
ensemble piece focusing on the
Christmas holiday misadventures of the titular family in a small
New England town when the eldest son brings his girlfriend home with the intention of proposing to her with a cherished
heirloom ring, the title being a play on the family's name and a reference to the ring.
Plot synopsis
Set in the fictional town of Thayer,
Connecticut, the story focuses on Meredith Morton (
Sarah Jessica Parker), a successful
Manhattan executive whose uptight, conservative demeanor is a sharp contrast to that of her boyfriend Everett Stone's (
Dermot Mulroney) liberal and rambunctious family. He has four siblings:
The Stones' father, Kelly (
Craig T. Nelson), is also an architect, and their mother, Sybil (
Diane Keaton), a bohemian type who is dealing with the recurrence of a fatal illness, which isn't directly stated. It's implied that she had
breast cancer previously, which has since metastasized (
Metastasis).