Mihai Toma Meredith, a very polite and well educated business-person but also very odd and quite unpleasant, joins Everett to his family Christmas celebration. She's about to find out that due to her personality, she's going to have a lot of trouble adapting to a loving, open- minded family which she can't understand. Meredith's relationship with Everett is going to be put to the ultimate test before the upcoming proposal.It's an interesting story which doesn't lose any time when it comes to presenting itself. We see Meredith put in the middle of the "action" right from the beginning, struggling to make her way into a new family. Meeting and understanding everyone will prove to be a difficult task for her and the ending will be as pleasant as it is unexpected. It manages to be very funny from time to time and it keeps your attention most of the time, moving from one situation to another (thanks to its rather large number of characters). It's enjoyable overall but it had some parts which seemed too exaggerated, out of place, or even too embarrassing for my taste. A good movie to be seen in the winter holidays.

Love_Life_Laughter Here it is, 2017, and I am writing a review of a movie released in 2006. Perhaps it is because I lived for 20 years in the Boston area, so many of the nuances ring true (Bedford is, after all, considered a high-end suburb) but I just love this movie. I must have watched it over 20 times and it never fails to delight. I guess you can call it my personal ground hog day. Let me count the ways I love this movie - 1) Not a note rings false - ensemble casting at it's best. And the actors seem to know it - they appear to be enjoying themselves. 2) Incredible talent across the board. 3) Watching the Meredith character shed her false rigidity to even the point of believing herself a full-fledged skank, while whining about it all of the time, is one of the funniest portrayals I've ever seen. You can see why John F. Kennedy, the man who could have practically any woman, chose Sarah Jessica Parker for a relatively serious fling. She is an intelligent, sweet hoot. That is all there is to it. 4) The rest of the performances are equally fabulous. That area of Massachusetts (the way Western part), is rather unique. You would have to grow up there, like I did, to really appreciate it I guess. The campus depicted there is where I saw Gwynneth Paltrow perform Shakespeare live on stage on the cusp of becoming famous, and where the front desk told me that Paul Newman was in the B&B. An intellectual Hollywood East of a sort. Not one detail of the movie rang false, from the Volvo to the bags of food from Whole Foods. Thank you for this fabulous gift that keeps giving - the quirky ensemble movie serving up a large helping of both laughs and pathos. I will enjoy it for years to come. For those who don't get it and can't see past the skank factor, this movie is about a loving family in crisis, in particular, in denial that they are about to lose their matriarch to cancer. The "good" son is unconsciously using magical thinking, trying to be super-good by wearing the tie, the suit, and bringing home the conservative (he thinks) fiancé. The irony is that the fiancé herself is a bit of a "freak" (non-conformist) and that she herself discovers this at the same time that the family comes to terms with the imminent loss of their beloved mother. A psychologically astute, funny and moving film.

dan_ryan After reading some of the reviews this film appears to be like Hillary Clinton. Either you love it or you hate it. I certainly don't care for Hillary, but I did enjoy this movie. Never was a big Sarah Jessica Parker fan but thought her portrayal was top notch. Diane Keaton was good as always. Craig T Nelson also gave a good performance. Claire Danes has a somewhat minor part. Rachel McAdams is delightfully catty. Had never heard of the protagonist, Dermot Mulroney prior to watching this. Much of the plot is not especially believable but for goodness sake it's a movie. Is there no such thing in love at first sight in Hollywood? Having some dysfunctional aspects in both sides of my family made this enjoyable to watch. If you're Ward and June Cleaver you might not enjoy this film.

chloe-church In this movie, Dermot Mulroney brings his girlfriend home to be humiliated by his family. The family is unfathomably cruel to her for no apparent reason. Dermot Mulroney does not defend her, and in fact seems to quite obviously hate her. Their relationship appears to be some sort of vicious joke at her expense, as he seems openly contemptuous of her. (Then again, Dermot Mulroney always appears to be openly contemptuous of his romantic leads.) She calls her sister for moral support, and the sister of course takes the side of the horrible family and falls in love with Dermot Mulroney. There is a point when the family has driven her from the house in tears, and they hear her crash a car into a tree, not once, but twice. They continue eating, rather than check to see if their guest has died on their lawn (except for Luke Wilson, the only member of the family to show a modicum of human decency to the character, because wants to sleep with her). This film seems less like a movie and more like a very upsetting stress dream. Happily, Dermot Mulroney's awful mother dies. Sadly, everyone else lives.