THE FAMILY STONE
This week, Keaton is the mom of a New England family gathering for Christmas in the comedy-drama "The Family Stone" (Fox, 2 stars). Next week, in a better-than-average CBS-TV movie of the week, "Surrender Dorothy" (Sony, 2 stars), Keaton is a divorced mom who suddenly loses her only daughter in a car crash and moves in with the daughter's friends in order to learn more about her.
And there are these coming movies: "Because I Said So," in which Keaton is a mom who tries to set her daughter up with the right guy. And in "Mama's Boy," Jon Heder is a thirtysomething slacker getting nudged out of the nest so that mom can marry her self-help guru.
In 2007, Keaton is slated to star in "Da Vinci's Mother" with a plot much like "Surrender Dorothy" - only this time she loses a son to suicide and sets off on a journey to get to know him better through his friends.
In "The Family Stone," Keaton's Sybil Stone presides over a messy sprawling old New England sea captain's home, to which her grown siblings return for the holiday. As the movie opens, she's grappling with two sets of bad news, one from her doctor and the other that her wunderkind son Everett (Dermot Mulroney) is bringing home his girlfriend for the holiday.
The girlfriend, Meredith (Sarah Jessica Parker), is an accomplished financier who apparently can handle mergers and acquisitions with steely mien but is a blubbering insecure idiot in front of Everett's family.
Not that they make it easy for her. Everett's siblings range from cold to indifferent toward Meredith, the worst being his youngest sister Amy (Rachel McAdams). The exception might be Everett's filmmaking brother, Ben (Luke Wilson) - a guy as California cool as Meredith is New York high-strung. Ben takes a liking to her.
Meredith's sister (Claire Danes) arrives to give her moral support and quickly catches the eye of Everett.
It gets messy, that's for sure.
The cast also includes Tyrone Giordano and Brian J. White as a gay couple and members of the family, as well as Craig T. Nelson as Sybil's husband.
"The Family Stone" has its moments but some really wooden dialogue. A bit of a nasty streak through the Stone family sends bad vibes through the film.
The words "Surrender Dorothy" are code between Natalie (Keaton) and her daughter Sara (Alexa Davalos) - a signal that they could speak freely to each other.
Well, not too freely. When Keaton moves herself into a Hamptons beach house with her daughter's friends, she begins to learn that her daughter led more of a life than she let on. Eventually Natalie must learn how to let go of her daughter. The cast also includes Lauren German and Josh Hopkins as a young married couple and Chris Pine and Tom Everett Scott as yet another gay couple.
Surprisingly, the story, the acting and dialogue in "Surrender Dorothy" are stronger than in the theatrical film "The Family Stone." And the ending is a three-hankie blowout.
ALSO THIS WEEK
"Hoodwinked" (Genius Products/Weinstein, 2 1/2 stars) A 3-D animated feature made for a reportedly paltry $15 million and, of course, it shows. But it is made with a script and character development worth four times that amount. Yeah, funny gags - a million cultural references - and characters you can embrace. On that level, it really works well.
"Last Holiday" (Paramount, 2 1/2 stars) Shy shopgirl Georgia Byrd (Queen Latifah) gets an official expiration date from her doctor and decides to raise some serious whoopee with the time she has left. Stand back, Europe. Georgia cashes in all her chips and then some and takes the wad to Europe where she tries to blow through it in one long party at an exclusive resort. (In the 1950 original, George Bird was played by Alec Guinness).
"End Game" (Sony, 1 star) Somebody rescue Cuba Gooding Jr., please! Another mediocre film despite the big-name cast - Gooding, Burt Reynolds, James Woods, Angie Harmon, Anne Archer. Maybe action/thrillers are the new "Love Boat" for the 2000s. Gooding is a Secret Service agent. When the president is taken down on his watch, Gooding bands together with news journalist Harmon (right!), to find out what happened.
FROM THE VAULTS
"Delicatessen" (Miramax, 1991) First time on DVD, the debut film of the brilliant Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Amilie) is darkly comical and a tasty repast. Set in a future in which meat is a coveted rarity, an apartment building owner treats his tenants to meaty dishes - on the cannibalistic side. A young man who comes to work for him doesn't know it, but he's on the next menu. The building owner's daughter, however, falls for the fellow and sets out to foil her fathers feast.
"The Warrior" (Miramax, 2001) A warrior in feudal India becomes the hunted when he refuses to enforce the will of the local lord after a mystical experience. Although the film is in Hindi, it is by a British director of Indian descent. Submitted by England for Best Foreign Film, it was rejected for an Oscar nomination because it isn't in the "native" tongue of England.
IT CAME FROM TELEVISION
"King of the Hill" (Fox) Season six of Hank and the whole Arlen, Texas, clan.
"Kate & Allie" (Universal) First season as two single moms (Jane Curtin and Susan Saint James) share a crowded city apartment.
"The Nanny" (Sony) Season two of the most annoying voice on TV, Fran Drescher.
"I Love Lucy" (Paramount) Season six in which the Ricardos make plans to move to Connecticut.
DVD RATINGS
4 stars: Don't miss: rent it/buy it
3 stars: Worth the risk: rent it
2 stars: On the tipping point: if nothing else is available
1 star: Don't bother: wait until it's in the $1 bin
© Copley News Service
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