| Stepmom | |
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Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Chris Columbus |
| Produced by | Chris Columbus Wendy Finerman Michael Barthanan Mark Radcliffe Ron Bass Julia Roberts Susan Sarandon |
| Screenplay by | Gigi Levangie Jessie Nelson Steven Rogers Karen Leigh Hopkins Ron Bass |
| Story by | Gigi Levangie |
| Starring | Julia Roberts Susan Sarandon Ed Harris Jena Malone Liam Aiken |
| Music by | John Williams |
| Cinematography | Donald M. McAlpine |
| Editing by | Neil Travis |
| Studio | 1492 Pictures |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
| Release date(s) | December 25, 1998 |
| Running time | 125 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $50,000,000[1] |
| Box office | $159,710,793 |
Stepmom is a 1998 comedy-drama film directed by Chris Columbus and starring Julia Roberts, Susan Sarandon, and Ed Harris. The film was a commercial success, but a moderate critical success.
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Jackie and Luke Harrison (Susan Sarandon and Ed Harris) are a divorced couple struggling to keep their children, Anna (Jena Malone) and Ben (Liam Aiken), happy with this sudden change of lifestyle.
This is far from easy, as Luke, an attorney, is living with his new girlfriend Isabel (Julia Roberts), a successful fashion photographer several years his junior. Isabel tries very hard to make Anna and Ben feel comfortable and happy around her, but Anna repeatedly rejects her overtures while Ben, who is generally kind to Isabel, adds extra complication with his mischievous nature. Isabel behaves with contempt tempered by caution around Jackie, believing she overcompensates for her divorce by spoiling her children. Conversely, Jackie, a former publisher turned stay-at-home-mom, gives Isabel a cold reception, seeing her as an overly ambitious career woman. She also continues to harbor malice against Luke (as can be seen in a confrontation about Isabel). After a long string of arguments and hurt feelings between Isabel, Jackie and Anna, Luke proposes to Isabel, making her Anna and Ben's soon-to-be official stepmom. This causes even more friction.
However, Jackie is diagnosed with lymphoma, which is discovered to be terminal. She experiences a range of negative emotions, angry at the woman who she feels played a role in her broken family, and angry at the fact that after all of the sacrifices she made for her family, she will not even get to see her children grow up. Both Jackie and Isabel clash repeatedly, largely over Isabel's parenting. This becomes evident when Ben goes missing on Isabel's watch and Jackie claims that she has never lost him, which she later admits to be untrue. Yet they manage to call a shaky truce, as both Jackie and Isabel come to terms with the fact that the latter will soon step into the role of surrogate mother.
The two women finally bond with each other when Isabel reveals her admiration of Jackie's maternal instincts, while Jackie in turn compliments Isabel's hipness as a means to connect with Anna. Isabel finally lets her guard down when she tearfully tells Jackie her biggest fear is that on Anna's wedding day, all Anna will wish for is her mother's presence. Through her own tears, Jackie says her own fear is that Anna will forget her.
The film ends with Isabel taking a family picture of Luke and Jackie with their children. Jackie demonstrates her acceptance of Isabel by inviting to join them in the portrait, stating "let's get [a photo] with the whole family". Isabel does, and as the closing credits begin, both women are shown in a photo side by side, finally at peace with one another and future events (Jackie's death and Isabel and Luke's marriage).
Stepmom opened at #2 at the North American box office behind Patch Adams making $19.1 million USD in its opening weekend. It stayed at the second spot for another week. The film grossed $91,137,662 in the US[2] and $159,710,793 worldwide[1] from a budget of $50 million.
Stepmom received mixed reviews from critics. It earned a 43% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.[3]
Susan Sarandon was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama and won the San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress. Ed Harris won the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor for his roles in Stepmom and The Truman Show.
Sony Pictures co-produced with Karan Johar to remake the film in India. The official Hindi remake, titled We Are Family, was shot in Australia and stars Kajol playing Susan Sarandon's character (called Maya), while Kareena Kapoor plays Julia Roberts' role (Shreya) in the movie. It also stars Arjun Rampal and is directed by Siddharth Malhotra. The remake, released worldwide on September 3, 2010 and a day before in India and UAE, was eventually declared an average grosser.
The film was also unofficially remade in Marathi as Tuzya Mazyat (Yours and Mine) in 2008 starring Sachin Khedekar, Mrinal Kulkarni, Sulekha Talwalkar and Mohan Joshi.
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