What a mess. What a horrible movieaccompanied by an overbearing soundtrack, hitting every Kleenex-sponsored cliche along the way. I can't remember a movie I've hated as much as I hated "Stepmom". Maybe "North"...no, even that was less offensive than "Stepmom".
Who thought the audience would even begin to identify with these characters? The husband and girlfriend live in a multi-million-dollar Manhattan apartment, while the ex-wife lives on a palatial country estate. They take time off from their overpaid jobs to ferry the kids around in Range Rovers. What percentage of the audience identifies with these characters' "problems"?
We see in the trailer how senselessly vicious the ex-wife is (the Pearl Jam tickets), but there's much, much more senseless meanness...and she's mean for almost the entire movie. Even after she learns about Her Terminal Illness (puh-leeze!), she continues spewing venom at the husband and girlfriend whenever she's on-screen. And always in front of the children, which may explain why they're so horrible as well.
About these kids, the dislike I felt for them was on a par with what I felt for the daughter in "Hope Floats", or the slicked-back friend in "North", or any Macauley Culkin character. They started the movie horrible, and they stayed horrible throughout...oh, they behaved through the phony tear-jerking ending, but does anyone think these brats have suddenly turned into little angels?
Ed Harris is the husband, and Julia Roberts is the girlfriend. They had about as much chemistry as...anyone remember the romance between Roberts and Nick Nolte in "I Love Trouble"? I recall reading a review that said when those two characters kissed, it was like two blocks of wood knocking together. The phrase applies here, too.
"Stepmom" is a horrible movie. It's not even funny in its awfulness. It's offensive to think that someone paid millions of dollars to get this film made...someone thinks the movie-watching public is so brain-dead that they'll pay to see phony, blatantly manipulative treacle like this. > >
Who thought the audience would even begin to identify with these characters? The husband and girlfriend live in a multi-million-dollar Manhattan apartment, while the ex-wife lives on a palatial country estate. They take time off from their overpaid jobs to ferry the kids around in Range Rovers. What percentage of the audience identifies with these characters' "problems"?
We see in the trailer how senselessly vicious the ex-wife is (the Pearl Jam tickets), but there's much, much more senseless meanness...and she's mean for almost the entire movie. Even after she learns about Her Terminal Illness (puh-leeze!), she continues spewing venom at the husband and girlfriend whenever she's on-screen. And always in front of the children, which may explain why they're so horrible as well.
About these kids, the dislike I felt for them was on a par with what I felt for the daughter in "Hope Floats", or the slicked-back friend in "North", or any Macauley Culkin character. They started the movie horrible, and they stayed horrible throughout...oh, they behaved through the phony tear-jerking ending, but does anyone think these brats have suddenly turned into little angels?
Ed Harris is the husband, and Julia Roberts is the girlfriend. They had about as much chemistry as...anyone remember the romance between Roberts and Nick Nolte in "I Love Trouble"? I recall reading a review that said when those two characters kissed, it was like two blocks of wood knocking together. The phrase applies here, too.
"Stepmom" is a horrible movie. It's not even funny in its awfulness. It's offensive to think that someone paid millions of dollars to get this film made...someone thinks the movie-watching public is so brain-dead that they'll pay to see phony, blatantly manipulative treacle like this. > >