Thomas Bezucha’s first writing and directorial effort was Big Eden, an art-house film about a small, fictitious, gay-friendly Montana town that served as the backdrop for a gay-straight love triangle. Bezucha has expanded his pro-gay theme with his second film, The Family Stone, whose title is likely a reference to the funk band Sly and the Family Stone, a pioneering, mixed-gender, interracial band that revolutionized pop music in the late 1960s while espousing peace, harmony, and love.

The Stone family is unlike most families in America. I am sure that the Hollywood execs quickly bought Bezucha’s pitch -- the story caters to every liberal minority group with a theater dollar to spend. Here is the cast of characters: Kelly and Sybil Stone (Craig T. Nelson and Diane Keaton) are a modern, middle-aged couple living in an upscale suburb somewhere in the northeastern US. They think it’s silly for their grown, unmarried children not to sleep with their mates during visits back home. As a testament to his hipness, Kelly also allows his children to call him by his first name. The Stones’ eldest son, Everett (Dermot Mulroney), is a successful mergers-and-acquisitions specialist. The youngest, Ben (Luke Wilson), is a documentary filmmaker and a pot-smoking free spirit who lives on the West coast. The elder daughter, Elizabeth (Savannah Stehlin), has one child and is pregnant with another. She appears to be separated from her husband, though there are references to him arriving later. The younger daughter, Amy (Rachel McAdams), is a rebel and misfit.

Then there’s the third son, Thad Stone (Tyrone Giordano), who is gay and hearing-impaired. He arrives with his lover, Patrick (Brian White), who is black. Patrick is adept at signing -- as is everyone in the Stone family. Thad and Patrick are entirely accepted as a couple by the rest of the family, who are also incredibly supportive of their attempts to adopt a child. Rounding out the family should have been a Puerto Rican housekeeper and a visiting rabbi, but alas, the Stone house was crowded enough.

The story centers on the entire Stone clan trying to adjust to Everett’s new girlfriend, Meredith (Sarah Jessica Parker), a nervous, uptight, somewhat prudish irritant who unsettles the easygoing Stones and shows them to be less accepting than they think they are. After several confrontations, Meredith, feeling overwhelmed and in need of an ally, phones her younger sister, Julie (Claire Danes), who agrees to spend Christmas with her and the Stones. But as soon as Julie arrives, Everett feels an instant attraction to her, just as his brother Ben begins to appreciate Meredith and to feel that his family is not giving her a fair chance.

Many miniature dramas take place in the Stone residence, some explicit, some merely hinted at. There are also several red herrings: more than once, we’re led to believe something about a character that turns out to be not so and has nothing to do with the plot. These poor attempts to manipulate and confuse the audience suggest interesting plot twists and then don’t deliver on them.

The Family Stone’s other failing was that many of the characters lacked charm. I didn’t really care about any of them, and so felt none of the warm’n’fuzzies that Christmas movies are supposed to elicit.

Bezucha’s direction reaches its low point two-thirds into the film, when he resorts to a slapstick scene we’ve seen many times before: everyone gets covered in food, breaks down, laughs, and then bonds with one another. Entirely contrived and without humor, it just doesn’t work.

The Family Stone’s single shining star is Sarah Jessica Parker. But while she does an excellent job as the besieged Meredith, even her performance is not sufficient reason to see this film.

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