Movie · 2005 · Comedy, Drama, Romance · 1h 43m · PG-13 · English
Curator score: 2.0/10 (306.3K ratings)
Feel The Love
Overview
An uptight, conservative businesswoman accompanies her boyfriend 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.
Ratings
Curator score: 2.0/10
IMDb: 6.3/10
Letterboxd: 3.05/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 52%
Metacritic: 56
TMDB: 6.3/10
Director
Thomas Bezucha
Production
Fox 2000 Pictures, The Family Stone, Major Studio Partners, Michael London Productions, Pan Productions, 20th Century Fox
Cast
Dermot Mulroney, Sarah Jessica Parker, Diane Keaton, Luke Wilson, Claire Danes, Rachel McAdams, Craig T. Nelson, Tyrone Giordano, Brian J. White, Elizabeth Reaser, Paul Schneider, Savannah Stehlin, Jamie Kaler, Robert Dioguardi, Carol Locatell, Ginna Carter, Gus Buktenica, Michael Pemberton, Ron Wall, Christopher Parker
Where to watch
Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
Curator Review
Verdict
A messy but often very funny Christmas dramedy that lives on ensemble chemistry, sharp character details, and the pleasure of watching a family implode and reconnect in real time. It can be tonally chaotic and occasionally mean-spirited, but if you like holiday movies with bite, awkwardness, and emotional volatility, it has a lot to offer.
Best for
Viewers who like dysfunctional family comedies
Holiday-movie fans who prefer realism over sentimentality
Fans of ensemble acting and character-driven chaos
People who enjoy rom-coms with a dramedy edge
Skip if
You want a warm, straightforward Christmas comfort movie
You dislike tonal whiplash or cringe comedy
You need a tightly plotted romance
You’re sensitive to family conflict, illness, or emotionally awkward dinner-table scenes
Overview
The Family Stone is one of those holiday movies that seems to be having several different conversations at once. It starts as a fish-out-of-water romantic comedy, then becomes a family ensemble piece, then swerves into something much sadder and more emotionally exposed. That instability is part of its appeal: the movie feels alive, messy, and a little embarrassed by its own feelings.
Worth noting
The cast is the main draw. The family dynamics have a lived-in snap, and the film keeps finding new centers of gravity as different characters take over the emotional temperature of the room. Some viewers will find the plotting ridiculous or the tonal shifts jarring, but the movie’s best scenes are built on awkwardness, resentment, and the strange tenderness that can exist inside a family that knows exactly how to hurt each other.
Bottom line
It’s not a polished holiday classic so much as a chaotic seasonal hangout movie with real bite. If you want Christmas cheer with edges, and you don’t mind a story that can feel both cozy and cruel, it’s worth a look.
Top Letterboxd reviews
eely (4.5★) · 9186 likes
I 😭 love 😭 you 😭 and 😭 you 😭 are 😭 more 😭 normal 😭 than 😭 any 😭 other 😭 asshole 😭 sitting 😭 at 😭 this 😭 table 😭
Laura Parker-Saladino (4★) · 6966 likes
The best thing about this movie is how it starts off as a movie about Sarah Jessica Parker and then it becomes Diane Keaton's movie and then it's about Claire Danes for a while and it ultimately becomes Rachel McAdams's movie, which is how all movies should end.
(this is Rachel's best role, fight me)
Jay (2.5★) · 6608 likes
utterly insane to start homophobic debate at your first christmas with your boyfriends family. even more insane that one of his brothers reacts with “she’s the one for me”
eely (4★) · 5191 likes
this movie is so cozy and feels so realistic and i love it a lot. there’s just so many little details that exist almost as background noise but add so much to the story. like i love that they still have a few halloween decorations up even though it’s christmas time. and how diane keaton’s book has a publisher’s remainder mark. and the way they talk with ASL even when thad isn’t in the room. i love rachel mcadams’s dinosaur… more this movie is so cozy and feels so realistic and i love it a lot. there’s just so many little details that exist almost as background noise but add so much to the story. like i love that they still have a few halloween decorations up even though it’s christmas time. and how diane keaton’s book has a publisher’s remainder mark. and the way they talk with ASL even when thad isn’t in the room. i love rachel mcadams’s dinosaur… more
Moogic (1.5★) · 5188 likes
The plot is just kind of ridiculous and all over the place. You have this couple who don't like each other that much, a brother who immediately starts hitting on his brother's girlfriend, a mom with cancer which seems like a weird addition to the plot, a sister who the main guy falls for immediately as she steps off a bus without ever having talked to her even though he was about to propose to her sister, another sister who… more The plot is just kind of ridiculous and all over the place. You have this couple who don't like each other that much, a brother who immediately starts hitting on his brother's girlfriend, a mom with cancer which seems like a weird addition to the plot, a sister who the main guy falls for immediately as she steps off a bus without ever having talked to her even though he was about to propose to her sister, another sister who… more
2003 · Comedy, Drama · 1h 21m · PG-13 · Curator 6.0/10 (51K ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, MGM Plus, Philo, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
A holiday family story with tension, emotional honesty, and a strong sense of domestic awkwardness.