In the beginning, there was Terms of Endearment, and the modern-day dramedy was born. While the fluid, real-life sprawl of James L. Brooks's film is still impressive today, its descendents show that trying to duplicate its vibe can easily devolve into pandering. In its attempt to be all things to all viewers, the holiday-themed smorgasbord The Family Stone hits every conceivable chord, no matter how much of a stretch.

The premise follows Sarah Jessica Parker's New York tightass as she travels with fiancé Dermot Mulroney to his small-town homestead. Within moments of their arrival, she lands afoul of Mulroney's hypercritical, hippy-dippy mother (Diane Keaton). Bonds are strengthened, lessons are learned, and so on. To their credit, the performers (including Luke Wilson, Rachel McAdams, and Paul Schneider) often seem unsure as to what type of emotional response is being tweaked, drifting between screwball and weepie with a wobbly, strangely winning tone. Unfortunately, such grace moments wither before writer/director Thomas Bezucha's increasingly ridiculous tendency toward stacking the deck, throwing in life-threatening illnesses, tearful midnight confessions, and all manner of Pavlovian stimuli. (The gay son is also deaf, in a mixed-race relationship, and looking to adopt.)

Erratic as it is, the film has a saving grace in the form of Craig T. Nelson. He makes for a wonderfully idealized father figure—not averse to smoking a doob now and then, but unafraid to lay the hammer down when one of his clan is threatened. As far as cinematic dream dads go, Atticus Finch has some serious competition.