Hi all,
Andrea and I went to see Stepmom last night and boy, did it suck. Here is my review, which gives a lot away. I have not felt so compelled to talk through a movie in a long time. As people who love Susan Sarandon, this is a huge disappointment.
HUGE.
------- Lifestyles of the Overprivileged
Seen on 16 December 1998 with Andrea at the SONY Lincoln Square as a Preview
Stepmom (1998)
Stepmom is a tedious bore, but it still has hit written all over it, if the American audience is as stupid as Hollywood surely assumes it must be. When I held my nose during the preview of Stepmom, it wasn't just because the movie stank, but to keep myself from laughing with inappropriate vigor during the schmaltziest parts, with respect to the less jaded members of the half-empty house.
Movies like Stepmom make you wonder what exactly people in Hollywood think of the viewing public, and why it took no less than six people to write such a treacly screenplay. It's not only insulting to just about every viewer, but it also makes you wonder if Susan Sarandon is that hard up for money that she has to make a movie like this, much less be one of the producers.
Stepmom is the story of a family that's undergone a divorce, and recently added a new element--the father's live-in lover Isabel (Julia Roberts). Isabel tries very hard to step into the parent role, but to no avail. Anna and Ben (Jena Malone and Liam Aiken, respectively) don't like her and neither does their mother Jackie (Susan Sarandon). All three hurl verbal barbs at her while Isabel huffs and puffs and wonders "Why don't they like me?" Luke (Ed Harris) doesn't seem to really like any of them--he's never around much. Why Isabel takes on parental responsibilities for these overpriveledged spoiled brats, when she has a fabulous job as a fashion shutterbug is beyond me.
The family home is gingerbreadesque, with a grand porch, gables everywhere, no neighbors in sight and a magnificent Hudson River valley view. Even Luke's New York loft, which looks like 100 percent IKEA, would make Martha Steward kvell. Even the *emergency room* has designer curtains.
I hate to give anything away in a review, but it's necessary, and it's what the ad campaign doesn't tell you: Jackie gets a diagnosis of lymphatic cancer from her very very very concerned oncologist (Lynn Whitfield). Jackie doesn't tell anyone though, and tries to soldier on bravely. Brave in that even though there are references to babysitters, they are never seen, as she seems to be UberMama. She cooks, sews, chats, and quilts. She's always available for those horrible children of hers. Horrible in that Anna has a face reads like an admission form for Our Lady of Perpetual Hurt Feelings. Her brother's squealing laugh is cute for about two seconds.
Stepmom is insulting on two levels. The two female leads alternate erratically from histrionic hissy fits to bonding moments. It gets tiresome. Even when undergoing chemotherapy, Jackie still finds time to be a bitch. When she's not quilting.
On the second level, it is very anti-urban and pro-family to a degree that ignores the realities of family issues in America. At one point, it is clearly implied that being a career girl in New York, working with effeminized ad executives and "having a life" is not preferable to sequestering yourself in an upper-class throwback life of the stay-at-home mother. You "lose your edge." Winning the hearts of cranky children, and getting them to their riding lessons on time, *that's* important. There are no real American family issues here--two working parents, money problems, "quality time" problems, etc., are all ignored. Stepmom is a landscape where the biggest problem facing you is finding out you're making the wrong Halloween costume for your daughter with only a week to go.
Finally, Jackie's cancer is treated like it's not a horrible devastating tragedy. In Stepmom, having cancer means you have to recline as often as possible and keep a chenille blankie over your knees. You still have plenty of energy to sew, take midnight horseback rides, even go to a Pearl Jam concert. There's also plenty of time for idiotic "loving" discussions that don't really have much depth.
"I like talking to you about stuff."
"I like talking to you about stuff, too."
It's no accident that cloying and annoying rhyme.
What's so problematic about Stepmom is the perverse morbidity of it all. Mom's dying--let's take a photo! Everyone say, "Last Christmas!" Clearly, there cannot be two women that are important in the kids' lives--only one. So, Jackie has to *die* and usher an orderly transfer of her children to Isabel. The idea that they share responsibilities and emotions is inadequate to this hyperbolic family values dramedy. Why Isabel is determined to love these horrible children, or even have a relationship with the perpetually absent Luke (who seems to have more chemistry with Jackie, even when they battle) defies logic. The two-parent nuclear family is the only thing that counts. So few characters outside of these five characters are ever seen. It's Family Values claustrophobia all the way. Even the divorce is sanitized. Luke was tossed out not for adultery or wife beating, but for simply being a workaholic lawyer who wasn't around enough for trips in the SUV around the exclusive neighborhood that features no sidewalks or minorities.
Directed by Chris Columbus, this is another in a line of his "family sitcom dramas"--he brought us the first two *Home Alone* movies, and *Mrs. Doubtfire*.
More movie reviews by Seth Bookey, with graphics, can be found at http://www.geocities.com/Athens/2679/kino.html
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