User Reviews

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!

This movie has a great cast, but stealing scenes from big timers like Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon is Jena Malone, as Anna, the young girl who can't accept her father (Ed Phillips) leaving her mother and moving in with a young woman. Anna really is terrible in her tantrums and snubbings and nastiness directed at her stepmom Isabelle (Roberts). But you can see why she would be like that. Almost as nasty is Sarandon's character, who belittles and berates Isabelle. It's a tiny bit disturbing that the Dad essentially side-steps all the drama and doesn't have to deal with it. Particularly since he broke up the family. It's a bit sexist that the women are catty and bitchy. Sometimes the movie is a bit preachy and predictable. But it does try to portray the journey that people in these situations can go through before some sort of harmony is restored.

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.

A classic '90s drama that brings Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon together in a mother vs. Stepmother issue.

It has a fairly simplistic way of plotting and predictable. The arc of fairly stereotypical characters without great personalities. Although they are not the best interpretations of Sarandon and Roberts, they achieve a nice chemistry that crosses and projects good bonds in the course.

It is not a genius or a work of art nor is it expected to be, it is from those movies to watch as a family and that leaves a cute flavor with a small realistic detail.

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 can never tire of this movie, it's magical - that's for sure. They just don't make them like this anymore. It's deserves a much higher rating on here

A beautiful, yet somewhat heartbreaking story about a stepmother whom is struggling with the new world of being a mother while trying to keep up with her promising career. Not without difficulty.

Whenever I watch this movie I get stuck, it totally gets me under its' spell and I find myself admiring the good acting, the casting that makes this movie what it is and the storyline. It's one of the best movies I have ever watched and I can assure you that tears will fall if you're into romantic, feel good-movies :')

Stepmom is one of the most delightful movies in recent times ... ! It's a touching tale of maternal love that doesn't fail to move you no matter how many times you see it. It's a gem !

Stepmom tells you the story of an American marriage that loses its spark with time and the man seeks love outside of it. This sensitive film deals with how the family handles the delicate situation --- at times, holding out bravely ... and at other times, buckling under the emotional trauma ! The other woman, very ably portrayed by Julia Roberts, is a genuinely good human being who tries to bond with her lovers' kids inspite of their mother's (and their own) initial bitterness towards her. The plot thickens when the mother of the kids, portrayed with finesse by Susan Sarandon, is found to have cancer. The mother's days in the world are now numbered and the family must learn to carry on without her ... ! Stepmom now paints a warm and endearing picture of how the members of this family reconcile their differences and stand united and strong in the face of this crisis.

It would be UNFAIR if I rated this one anything less than 9 ... !

The first two thirds of the film are quite clearly stated by the sixty-second trailer. The big screen, unexpurgated, version serves only to make these loathsome and hateful people (well portrayed by Susan Sarandon and Jena Malone) more substantial and more tangible. The events of the last third of the film are intended, I assume, to turn around our perception of these characters and somehow make them more endearing. Well, for me, it just didn't work. Although the acting was at least competent, the apparent moral of the story of absolute forgiveness under adversity was just not plausible.

If you are a staunch Julia Roberts fan you may appreciate her portrayal of the unquestioning Isabel but are not likely to enjoy the abuse her character must endure.

A sweet and honest movie. It's definitely a family film. I liked the relationship of having to fill someone's shoes in a sense, because people are so attached to them. Sarandon was awesome of course. She carried her part with grace and the feral intensity of a mama bear. Nothing got over on her and I liked that because she wasn't going to be around much longer. It wasn't about sizing up the competition, but making sure she was the right person her kids could grow up with instead of her. It was heartfelt and real. Great film.

As a Comedy, it stunk. It had only a couple of funny moments that were shown in the trailers - no other funny parts...

In actuality, it is a tear jerker. I don't know why they classify it as Comedy or why the trailers gave the impression of a Comedy. As a real stepmom, myself, I was hoping to see a lighter-side comedy about relationships that can be difficult and sometimes pretty tough and even heartbreaking; instead, it was about a relationship that was forced/forged through tragedy - not much to laugh about in the tragic second half of the movie.

That being said, it was well written and well executed and as a Drama it was really good. The acting was superb and the writing was excellent. I was disappointed because I had been in the mood for a Comedy when I watched it.

Overall not a bad movie. Harris, Sarandon and Roberts provide the spark to this 'Terms of Endearment' wannabe. Why Sarandon's character had to travel to Los Angeles from New York to get better medical treatment is a bit far-fetched. Whatever! The kids are good too, not precious and bratty as is often the case.

Stepmom is such a wonderful movie that has an AMAZING cast along with the storyline. It has love, laughter, heartache and everything in between. Such a beautifully shot movie!!! A+++ Film

I'm a big fan of Chris Columbus movies. I've seen Home alone & Harry potter 1 & 2. They were all pretty good ! Most of Chris movies are my favorite.

Susan Sarandon and Juila Roberts gave us a wonderful time in the movie. Liam Akien was cute to be a son of Susan. It's contains loves , family , Joy & sadness. When I watch this movie, I almost cry every minute. The one thing made me unpleasant was the picture so long. It could have been shorter. Enjoy watching Stepmom with your family ! Thank you very much Chris Columbus ! 6/10

It is hard to believe that this film is 15 years old now: it is as fresh and refreshing as the year it was made. Much of that is due to the story that tends to be a bit Hallmarky (written by Gigi Levangle and manipulated for the screen by Jessie Nelson, Steven Rogers, Karen Leigh Hopkins and Ronald Bass) but with Chris Columbus' direction and a cast of incredibly talented actors is really works.

Anna (Jena Malone) and Ben (Liam Aiken), the two children of Jackie (Susan Sarandon) and Luke (Ed Harris) Harrison, have to cope with the fact that their parents divorced and that there is a new woman in their father's life: Isabel (Julia Roberts), a successful photographer. She does her best to treat the kids in a way that makes them still feel at home when being with their dad, but also loves her work and does not plan to give it up. But Jackie, a full-time mother, regards Isabel's efforts as offensively insufficient. She can't understand that work can be important to her as well as the kids. The conflict between them is deepened by the sudden diagnose of cancer, which might may be deadly for Jackie. They all have to learn a little in order to grow together.

The lightness of the film is highlighted with some very entertaining Karaoke takes on popular music as performed by mom and the kids and by a little Thanksgiving talent show. But over and above the cutesy schmaltz are a lot of well shaped statements about life and death and family. It remains a very fine movie.

Grady Harp

I might be the first to start my review by praising Jenna Malone. Her character, 12-year-old Anna, is annoying and it's highly realistic. Her parents divorced, her Dad has a new girlfriend (fiancé), she's splitting her time between homes and, on top of that, middle school boys are jerks! She's a really fine actress. She's had a good enough career, but I can't help thinking that if she were conventionally beautiful and looked like Margot Robbie, she'd have been a star. That's Hollywood.

As for Roberts and Sarandon, they are good too. I think JR was a bit over-hyped at her zenith, but she is a very strong actress and she holds her one against Sarandon. Ed Harris is likable but he's just kind of there. Which is part of the problem.

We don't really know what led to the end of the marriage between Harris and Sarandon (Jackie), but it's pretty clear that he was the one who wanted to leave. I can't blame her for being salty about it. That said, he didn't have an affair with Robert's character, Isobel. They met after the divorce. She didn't ruin Jackie's marriage and she's not a cheater.

So on whom does Jackie vent her spleen? Isobel. She berates her for not knowing how to take care of kids as well as she does (not surprising given Isobel has never had any and is focused on her career). She tries to balance work and the kids, but she makes mistakes and Jackie is unforgiving. Jackie even makes fun of Isobel's teeth. It's not helpful and it sets a bad example for her kids, especially her daughter (Malone).

To Isobel's credit, she tries to connect in the ways she knows best: by being a friend. She asks to take Anna to a concert (Jackie says no, naturally). She even ingeniously helps out Anna with the aforementioned awful middle school boy by offering some choice put-downs and loaning her a studly young model friend to put the twerp in his place. I actually cheered at this part. I was a girl that age once.

Meanwhile, the father stays out of the drama. Even the younger child, son Ben (the boy!), stays out of the drama. So we basically get a movie that pits two women against each other and adds a future woman into the mix.....until it doesn't. Cue the hankies.

Like I said, the film is well acted and effective in many ways. There is some nice scenery and NYC settings, a lovely country home and a cool loft, good costumes, and horses. I just feel like there was too much time spent on the (mostly one-sided) conflict between Jackie and Isobel, two women who in fact have not wronged each other and don't need to be at war.

I don't think this movie would be made today, at least not in the way it was in the late 90s. And that's a good thing. It definitely passes the Bechtel Test, but not in a great way.

In this maudlin, melodramatic fantasy, we have five main characters: The stepmom Julia Roberts), the mom (Susan Sarandon), the dad (Ed Harris), and two kids. The stepmother's role is the only one of the male roles to emerge faintly from one dimension, to resemble a live person. The mom is a controlling, spiteful, know-it-all, who also somehow manages to muster immense, flawless tenderness with her kids. The dad is just good. The daughter resembles a person; the son, some narcissist's self-image of himself in childhood, remarkably charming and good-natured. As I watched it, I figured, "This was written by someone with a godawful, but dead, obsessive-compulsive mother to whom he was overly close in childhood, whom he feels bad about hating now, especially since he likes his stepmom so much." The performances are excellent, but the characters are so incredible that this is more cartoon than drama. Some parts were so predictable and mawkish I just fastforwarded through them.

I think Susan Sarandon and Julia Roberts work so well together to make this a lovely, heart warming story. I loved every minute of it. I love the bit at the end where Anna says goodbye to her mum because it shows the relationship between mother and daughter beautifully which always makes me cry and think how I'll have to start appreciating my mum more!! Julia Roberts is my favourite actress and I have always wanted to see her and Susan Sarandon working together. Susan Sarandon's film Thelma and Louise reminds me of this film, two women facing dificulties and hardship to come out on top stronger and together.

Imagine how good this movie might have been if a real director had made it. Susan Sarandon gets to have a few intense moments and everyone else is fine. It's an enjoyable story, albeit kind of manipulative.