# Stepmom (1998)

### reviewed by
Edward Johnson-Ott

Stepmom (1998) Julia Roberts, Susan Sarandon, Ed Harris, Jena Malone, Liam Aiken, Jason Maves, Lynn Whitfield, Darrell Larson, Mary Louise Wilson. Screenplay by Gigi Levangie and Jessie Nelson & Steven Rogers & Karen Leigh Hopkins and Ronald Bass, based on a story by Gigi Levangie. Directed by Chris Columbus. 125 minutes Rated PG-13, 1.5 stars (out of five stars)

Review by Ed Johnson-Ott, NUVO Newsweekly www.nuvo-online.com Archive reviews at http://us.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Edward+Johnson-ott To receive reviews by e-mail at no charge, send subscription requests to pbbp24a@prodigy.com

SPOILER WARNING: This article contains references to key plot points. Proceed at your own risk.

In several interviews, Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon stated their belief that "Stepmom" was a poor name for their current film. I agree. A much more appropriate title would be "When Bad Movies Happen To Good Actors." Watching talents like Roberts, Sarandon and Ed Harris mouth virtually every cliché that has ever popped up on the Lifetime Channel is beyond embarrassing. Sure, juicy starring roles for women are hard to come by, but Julia and Susan, did you actually read this script before signing your contracts? As for Ed Harris, I can only assume that director Chris Columbus once saved his life and demanded that Harris do this movie to repay the debt.

The story, about the fireworks that come when Dad tries to introduce his new love into the lives of his children and ex-wife, exists only to allow Sarandon and Roberts a wide berth to strut their stuff. "Stepmom" begins as a bitchy relationship drama, then mutates into an extremely cheesy tearjerker, with incurable cancer serving as a handy device to tie together loose plot threads. The filmmakers are utterly shameless in their quest to send you out of the theater drying your eyes while saying, "Oh, it was all so sad and so true!"

In fact, almost everything about "Stepmom" is false. The script isn't based on anything actual human beings would ever say. Instead, the characters spout lines recycled from other hack movies. For example, when daughter Anna (Jena Malone) stomps out of the room during a family quarrel and her father shouts, "You do NOT run out on your mother," she pivots at just the right moment and snaps back, "No, that's YOUR job!" It gets worse. One conversation about Anna between doomed earth mother Jackie (Sarandon) and inheritor-to-the-throne Isabel (Roberts) ends with Jackie intoning "I have her past, and you can have her future." Believe it or not, it took five writers to create this drivel.

The plotting is as phony as the dialogue, with every situation wrapped up oh-so-tidily by the end of each scene, no matter how much contrivance it takes to get there. After all, this is a feel-good melodrama and director Columbus is determined not to let reality get in the way of his cavalcade of golden moments. How far does he go? Well, the film features two touching death-bed scenes without the central character actually getting around to dying. Neat trick, eh?

Speaking of dying, Susan Sarandon's character is really good at it. Once Jackie realizes that her cancer is irreversible, she choreographs her upcoming demise in grand fashion, sewing commemorative capes and quilts like the Martha Stewart of terminal illness. Julia's character also orchestrates a number of Kodak moments, including one magical scene where she enchants Jackie by filling a room with life-sized stand-up photos of the kids. Forget the ludicrously extreme preparation time and expense of creating such a display. It looks great and that's the only thing that matters.

In-between the bickering and bonding, Columbus pads the film with sing-a-longs, repeated visits to the same restaurant for heart-to- heart chats, and that most dreaded of all contemporary clichés, the "let's celebrate life and love by lip-synching to a golden oldie" scene. Oh, the joy, the heartbreak and the schmaltz of it all!

To be fair, the adult actors give it their best. Julia Roberts, radiant as always, does what she can with an unevenly-written character who fluctuates maddeningly from sharp-as-a-tack professional photographer to flummoxed caregiver to infinitely resourceful counselor. Susan Sarandon is excellent as the fiercely protective mother, while less successful as the martyr du jour. Even during the mawkish last hour, though, she manages to provide the only genuine moment in the film, when she pauses and surveys a family room while her remarkably expressive eyes flash panic over all she is about to lose.

Ed Harris, one of the finest actors in the business, is wasted here, disappearing for extremely long stretches of time while the women duke it out. And then there's the kids. Jena Malone is suitably annoying as Anna and young Liam Aiken, playing her brother Ben, comes off more like a very cute toy than an real child.

Earlier this year, "One True Thing" explored family conflicts, reconciliation and the great aching tragedy of terminal illness with intelligence, insight and dignity. "Stepmom" takes the same issues and cheapens them. Julia Roberts, Susan Sarandon and Ed Harris earned big paychecks appearing in this cloying exercise in manipulation. Don't waste part of your check on their error in judgment.

    © 1998 Ed Johnson-Ott

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