Stepmom

Rating:
Summary: Pretty Good!
Review: I saw this movie a few months ago and I enjoyed it. Parts of the movie are very sad and I have seen movies like this that were overly melodramatic and extremely sappy but this movie managed to avoid that and I recommend it to fans of Susan Sarandan, Julia Roberts and Ed Harris.

Rating:
Summary: Hokey and dumb, but entertaining
Review: This is sort of a dumb movie full of cliques and melodrama. It was perfect for the Christmas season when it was released. Who couldn't find heartwarming a tale of wayward ex-husband shacking up with good-hearted but shallow chippie who clashes with spoiled but good-hearted kids and shrew-like ex-wife. But shrew-like ex-wife is croaking and realizes good-hearted but shallow chippie will end up raising her spoiled but sweet children. Does the chippie mature enough to handle the job by the end of the flick? What do you think. They all end up happy at the end, though shrew-like ex-wife still bites the dust but not after mending all fences with wayward ex-husband and shallow but good-hearted chippie. Stupid and predictable, this film nonetheless is pretty good to watch to pass time and is entertaining. Credit the great cast making soapdish junk watchable. I still have to cringe, though, when Sarandon makes that awful cape for the son. Yuck, totally dumb gift. Julia Roberts could have shown some more flesh as well, but it works.

Rating:
Summary: i am a stepdad and love this movie
Review: where you are a stepmom or stepdad you can relate to this movie its is so real to life. my wife and i saw this three times in theather it was so great. i do not care how many times we see this movie i will have a toldly soaked shirt on from wife putting head on my shoulder and bawling eyes out to my own weeping. i remember driving home from second time from seeing this i thought i was going to have to stop to let wife drive i was still crying so hard. this is just a good old rip your heart type of movie. so if you are stepmom or stepdad this movie is great. see it.

Rating:
Summary: Unbelievably Powerfull
Review: This movie is incredibly good, but if you don't like a tear-jerker, chances are you won't like Stepmom. But if you want to see an unbelievably powerfull movie, and a stellar preformance by Susan Serandon, then you'll love it. Even cement would break out sobbing at the end of this movie. It shows the hardships that children go through in a divorce situation, the akwardness of stepmothering, the hell of dying from cancer, and the inexpressibly painful task of explaining all this to your kids. Everyone should watch this movie-except I would not recomend it to people who are close to someone who is divorcing or dying. But anybody else will love it.

Rating:
Summary: stepmom, you can learn to love.....
Review: Rated P.G,this ultimate chick flick for all ages, is one movie which will definitley make the most cold hearted person reach for the tissue box,if not at the start,then definitley by the end.
This is also one movie you wouldn't want to drag your boyfriend,(any typical male,etc),to as they will either find it to low on action,or they will fall asleep.But with that aside,this is an excellent movie to watch with your mum,sister,or friends for a fun girls night.

set mainly in the city of New York,this is one of the first films to show the pain and jealousy involved when you divorce,and your ex finds someone else,especially when children are involved and expected to treat their father's new girlfriend as if she were their mum,(which happens all the time in real-life).
The only bad thing I can say about this movie is the complete lack of suspence,and action.There is virtually no action,mostly sad,hurtful scenes with lots of realistic looking tension between the leads.whilst I say there isn't much action and suspence,the suprises and shocks all through this movie,more than make up for it.Great performances all round from both the leads,Susan Sharadon,and Julia Roberts,and excellent directing by Chris Columbus.
this ultimate tear-jerker of a movie is a must see,and perfect for a rainy day!

Rating:
Summary: Shameless attempts at emotional manipulation.
Review: Stepmom (Chris Columbus, 1998)

It's probably considered at least a venial sin in America to criticize Columbus, who's bookended his directorial career with two of the biggest blockbusters ever to hit a big screen, Home Alone and the Harry Potter franchise. But let's face it. Home Alone was pure unadulterated emotionally manipulative schlock. The guy's made his mark directing the kinds of teen comedies John Hughes wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole (and Hughes even wrote Home Alone. One wonders why he didn't direct...). With Stepmom, Columbus has all the schlock with none of the cuteness of the child actors. Not that said cuteness ever made his films watchable previously.

There is only one actress in Hollywood who can make Julia Roberts look like she can act, and that is the detestable Susan Sarandon. While Sarandon has been nausea-inducing in a number of roles, this one goes above and beyond the call of duty. Sarandon's character, Jackie Harrison, is the ex-wife of hapless Luke (Ed Harris, showing once and for all that no matter how good an actor you are, if the script makes you look like an idiot, you will look like an idiot). She can't stand Luke's new girlfriend, Isabel (Roberts), and for that matter can't seem to stand much of anyone, including her own kids. Jackie is as loathsome a creature as the average viewer, and most non-average viewers, will ever want to meet. Were she male, she'd be on the Lifetime Movie network in a wifebeater T-shirt, throwing beer cans at the football game and smacking the kids around, and everyone would hate her. But she's female, and she's in a Chris Columbus movie, and so we're supposed to sympathize. (Oh, and to make sure we do, not far into the film she's diagnosed with cancer. Because that's an excuse to be [a jerk].)

Julia Roberts has only managed one decent role in her career, and that (Flatliners) lay in the strength of the rest of the cast. The fact that she can be singled out here because of the weakness of the cast around her says volumes. I could easily go on for another half-hour about the painfully overdramatized script, the shameless attempts at emotional manipulation throughout, the pedestrian camerawork, and the fact that, even though he's working with adults, Chris Columbus is still directing teen feel-good-because-everyone-bonds movies. But there are so many more deserving things to give bad reviews to out there I can't justify spending any more time on this painfully bad piece of dreck. (zero)

Rating:
Summary: To be a stepmother you have to step on your own feet
Review: Julia Roberts is becoming the stepmother of two kids who are absolutely partial about it and do not want to give her the smallest space in their life, preferring their own real mother. Divorce is not an easy matter and remarrying is even more difficult for the children. But a stepmom has to learn how to become and be a real mother, has to learn how to capture the children's attention, interest and trust. This is done especially because the real mother has cancer and is going to die. When she realises this she stops fighting and helps the stepmom to be accepted by the kids because she has to give way to her since she is going to go and leave forever. The relation between the two mothers, the real one and the step one, is explored in great details and is very convincing. The kids are also very good and full of feeling and true emotion. The father is mostly on the sideline and certainly not the center of the film, but after all the stepmother is the star, the stepmother who is being born little by little. Emotions and feelings are uppermost in this film that becomes some entertaining and also thought bringing two hours.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University of Perpignan

Rating:
Summary: Roberts and Sarandon Make 'Stepmom' Moving and Emotional
Review: Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon truly give life to this remarkable tale of family, life, love, and loss. Director Chris Columbus (Harry Potter, Mrs. Doubtfire) superbly directs the well-defined script that not once questions its ability to work. Though an intelligent group of screenwriters and a good director are behind the film, it definitely reflects the typical Hollywood-tear jerker, but with quality.
The film focuses on the Harrison family: Luke (Ed Harris), Jackie (Susan Sarandon), and their two children Anna (Jena Malone) and Ben (Liam Aiken). The wealthy New York family has all of the love, but all of the fights, especially those which have come from Luke and Jackie's past divorce. Luke's new love interest, and fiancé, is Isabel (Julia Roberts), a stylish, young, New York City photographer. She has absolutely no motherly experience, and is really not ready to be a stepmom, especially since the two children are indisputably close to their very maternal mother Jackie. From this, a slight feud between Jackie and Isabel comes about. Isabel is unhappy of how Jackie sees her as so irresponsible and careless, while Jackie is not ready to be replaced by someone with no parental experience. But after the family learns devastating news concerning Jackie's health, Isabel and Jackie must learn to get along, whether they are going to share motherhood or not.
Though there are some smiles and heart-filled scenes, the emotional and dramatic script offers a typical family drama story, in which a family is sometimes torn apart by the horrible consequences that life brings sometimes, and the difficulty of changes. Fortunately, the story plays out well with great direction, two amazing lead-female stars (also with executive producer spots), and a plot that keeps the audience emotionally attached throughout the film.
Malone and Aiken impress, as the emotionally hurt children that are suffering from their parents past divorce, while they must cope with Isabel, their soon to be stepmom. And despite some mild film-making don'ts, STEPMOM has few flaws, and truly shows us how "family" is more than just a word. The DVD features a "making of featurette," film trailer, and both Widescreen / Full-Screen versions.

Rating:
Summary: I longed for my mom
Review: I watched this movie when I was home alone one night. After which I got in my car and drove 2 hours to see my mom. It's very touching.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful Movie
Review: STEPMOM is an excellent movie. It includes Julia Roberts, Susan Sarandon and Ed Harris, in this touching movie about family. Ed Harris plays Luke, who is divorced from Jackie (Susan Sarandon) and seeing Isabel (Julia Roberts). Jackie & Luke have two kids, Ben and Anna. There is definate animosity between Jackie & Isabel, and the kids. Isabel does her best but nothing seems to be good enough for Jackie. As the movie progresses however, Jackie & Isabel bond over certain experiences. Anna who is having difficulty accepting her father's new fiance, struggles in her every day life, but in the end learns to accept the situation. ... The movie is a touching tale about how a family comes together through crisis, and learns to live with each other again. This is definately a tear jerker, but the performances are strong all around. I highly reccomend this movie.