Stepmom

Stepmom is a wonderful, life-affirming film that benefits from the great direction of Chris Columbus, the beautiful music of John Williams, and a great screenplay.

Ed Harris is great as the father, though his role is smaller. The two children are spot on. But what really drives this film are the portrayals of the mother by Susan Sarandon and the stepmother by Julia Roberts.

This film is about universal truths: Life has its ups and downs. Love has its ups and downs. Some of the strongest familial bonds are forged from needing. And when you really love someone, there is no wrong way to do it.

The story traces the progress between the mom and the stepmom--two women who have to face their fears of a new family dynamic. The mother was there for all the tender moments, all the wounds and all the memories. The stepmom is the "cool" one who knows the lyrics to all the songs and is current with today's fashions. To become a whole family, the mother must overcome her fear of being replaced and the stepmother must overcome her fear of comparison with an irreplaceable mother.

This is a tearjerker. The resolution goes far beyond the daily struggles of a family rent by divorce. Well worth seeing.

I like it for the autumn flavors. For impecable job of Susan Sarandon, for Ed Harris smart manner to build his characters and for the fair portrait of motherhood. A film about family and about love , realistic in surprising manner and proposing a nice, useful message to viewer. A sort of cup of caffe with good dose of cinnamon.

I got Stepmom for Julia Robert's performance, and I expected it to be pretty good. It did not fail me- it exceeded my expectations. This movie is beautiful.

It's the story of a husband and wife with two kids who have fallen out of love, and now the father is getting married to a new, younger woman. The mother of the kids does everything she can to make her children hate this woman who is going to very soon be a permanent part of their life.

Julia Roberts indeed gives a fine performance as the fiancée of Ed Harris, the husband. She steals your heart in every scene she's in as this young woman who is trying so hard to be exactly what those children want and need. And in the end, she's searching for acceptance and love from them as much as they are from her. And then there's Susan Sarandon, giving one of her best performances as the mother of the children who wants nothing more than to remove her children from The younger woman completely. Sarandon's character is horrible- one of the most awful and hateful people in modern movies. She backstabs, she's overly-critical, and for a long time, she finds every chance possible to turn her children against the other woman- yet you cannot help but feel for her. As nasty as she is, you sympathize with this woman who is having to deal with her children being in the care of a younger, inexperienced woman who is living with her ex-husband. It's impossible not to understand her character's mourning and confusion. For the first time in her life, this woman is not the only mother in her children's life.

Don't be surprised if you cry- more than once. It's that good, and that affecting. Truly, this film is one of the better delights of the past few years. Beautiful story, great performances, real emotions- 8/10 stars!

Jay Addison

I loved this movie! If you are in the mood for a tear jerker movie, this is the movie too see. Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon are remarkable together. This is the absolute best I have seen Julia Roberts act and this movie defiantly brings out her talent. Susan Sarandon can make any movie good. But she delivers outstanding effort to make her character relate to other women who have had the problems that Susan's character faces. This movie is of course a 10 out of 10! Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon will make you laugh now and then, but they will also make you cry with the difficulties that they face together on screen. Stepmom is a movie you'll enjoy and "always always" remember as a movie that filled your heart. So if you haven't seen Stepmom yet...go and see it! You'll be glad that you did.

I'm still wondering why Susan and Julia didn't even get a nomination of the Academy, or the screenplay. This movie is a great movie about jelousy of a mother, that is scared that her children might love someone else as their second mother, and gives such a hard time to that person. And in the other hand, you see that young lady, in love (with the father of those kids), that forgives everything that has been done to her. She was called a bitch a couple of times (the dog scene with Ana, and when she brings the kids at Jackies, and Ana has make up). Was ignored, and even lost her job for those kids. And she forgives all of this, and tryes to like everyone. The world sure would be perfect if everyone would be this way. The problem is that the world has too many Jackies, and not enough Isabels.

If you are someone that likes to cry, and cry. Watch it. Is one of the sweetes movie ever, talking about peoples feelings, fears, and happynes. Great!