Product Description

A touching story of unlikely friendship between two remarkable women. A hilarious, poignant, heartfelt drama about the tears we shed and the joys we share when someone new steps into the family.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5932 in DVD
• Brand: Sony
• Released on: 1999-04-13
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Full Screen, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 124 minutes

Amazon.com essential video
Though Stepmom was dismissed as a contender in the 1998 Oscar race, it's worth giving a second chance to this rather cogent, sharp-tongued look at second chances. Susan Sarandon's performance as a mom about to be replaced by her ex-husband's new girlfriend (played by Julia Roberts) has a lot of bite, and it's a shame the script opted to marginalize and trivialize her plight in its final reel. Initially, the rancor that passes between divorced mom Jackie (Sarandon) and trendy fashion photographer Isabel (Roberts) rings true, aided by the sincerity of Jackie's ex-husband Luke (Ed Harris) and the emotional plight of their children, who have the most to lose in their parents' divorce. As the drama makes clear, the kids are the real victims in the agony that ensues between old and new love.

Director Chris Columbus, who is adept at showing familial chaos (he directed Mrs. Doubtfire and Home Alone) with a sanitized minimum of lingering emotional damage, actually manages to dig a trifle deeper than usual in exploring the jealousy and hurt that occur when the baton is passed between a birth mom and the younger wife who steps into her shoes. Stepmom fortunately manages to touch on that chord--showing how an ambitious woman might feel hampered by the responsibility of children just because she's fallen in love with their dad--as well as the haunting grief that it causes their birth mom. It's an issue that haunts millions of second wives everywhere, and while Roberts conveys the confusion of being taken for granted in the melee that follows, it's Sarandon who walks off with the film. She's relentless in her fury, and everyone else in the film--the generally excellent Harris included--is sideswiped. It's just a shame that Hollywood once again wimps out in the end, solving the problem by giving Sarandon a terminal illness. Instead of allowing Jackie and Isabel's relationship to unfold on something less than a high note, the movie has to quell its best thing with a false payoff because it doesn't know what to do with real life. --Paula Nechak

From The New Yorker
A wealthy lawyer (Ed Harris) leaves his wife (Susan Sarandon) for a young photographer (Julia Roberts). Needless to say, his kids (Jena Malone and Liam Aiken) don't like the idea: they resent the presence of the interloper, who spends the rest of the movie trying to win them over. Just to complicate the issue, the wife learns that she has terminal cancer. It all adds up to a new and curious phase in the career of director Chris Columbus. He began by writing comedies, and graduated (or sank) to movies like "Mrs. Doubtfire," which surrounded the jokes with mush. Now the mush has taken over, and Columbus has slowed his pace in nervous deference to the solemnity of his plot (not to mention the opulence of his characters' lives). This does nobody any favors-particularly not actors as skilled as Sarandon and Harris, who do their best with a script that is itself incurable. Poor Julia Roberts is forced to indicate her photographic prowess by announcing "It's a wrap" at regular intervals; it's that kind of movie. -Anthony Lane
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

one of my favorites
I always have and always will consider this a very meaningful and worthwhile movie. Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon were outstanding choices for the lead roles because they truly knew how to fit the types of characters they were playing. Susan Sarandon is Jackie Harrison, a highly devoted mother who is an outstanding example of a woman who loves and places her children above herself. Her ex-husband Luke (Ed Harris) finds a new love, Isabel (Julia Roberts). The whole situation is difficult for Jackie and both of her young children, especially her 12-year-old daughter Anna, who resents Isabel. When Susan is diagnosed with fatal cancer, it becomes absolutely necessary for the two kids to learn to accept Isabel. Many, many hardships and challenges rise between Susan and Isabel before they are finally able to put aside their differences, become friends, and figure out how to handle the future of their family--a future that they can no longer deny. I especially liked this movie because it deals with such serious and complex issues that many of us can at least appreciate if we have not experienced it ourselves. You really feel the tone of the issue through Anna, Susan's oldest child. She is such a horrible brat, you want to kick her, but then you soften when you realize that she is just scared and upset because she loves both of her parents, and it is hard for her to get through all of the changes. Any of us can understand or even relate to that. Although I enjoyed most aspects of this movie, I really loved the way Susan taught her children not to be afraid of her death, especially her very young son. There's no greater way to show your love for your child than by putting on a brave face during the scariest moment of your life in order to spare them the fear that you feel yourself. It truly is touching the way Susan loves her kids so selflessly in this movie. It's very deep, very moving, and worth the money to buy. I hope this review was helpful.

Families really can be forever...even stepfamilies...
I have waited forever for a fabulous movie such as this where the stepmom is a caring parent who will go through just about anything to make things workout, yet still be witty and stick up for herself. Julia Roberts was at her best. Susan Sarandon was perfect. Whenever you hear the word "stepmom" most think "wicked" should be attached. I am a stepmom and know how painful it can get. We're not all bad step mothers, some of us are stepmoms. This movie was very accurate and showed both sides of the fence. One reviewer said children are not aloud to act this way in real life, HA. This was a very mild case of what true step families go through. These childrens lives are being torn apart and they will stop at nothing to stop their pain. But as the movie shows, it's not because they are bad, and the stepmom isn't bad for falling in love with their dad, and once you see through the pain there really can be peace in the end with true love and understanding. We CAN have a great relationship with one another . Wonderful show, well worth owning. It truly showed the struggle real families go through in a fun, humorous and touching way. I took my stepson to see it. It was our first date. We loved it. He laughed and cried through the whole show.

Balance of tension and sweetness
This movie is a tough one to watch because many of the scenes (especially during the first hour) are riddled with tension -- the kind you feel when you've just confronted someone head-on. Everyone fights -- parents, children, ex-wife and girlfriend, stepmother and children; you almost feel like you've been inadvertantly caught with a friend when she decides to have a major argument with a family member -- makes you want to slip out of the room until the storm is over.

Chris Columbus did a wonderful job directing this film -- the arguments were uncomfortable, but they were supposed to be. Better, there were some poignant moments that really worked. STEPMOM is a realistic fable with just a touch of magic to make the audience happy.

The cast was superb -- Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon gave great performances, and the kids (not sure of their names) were both adorable and the biggest brats you've ever seen -- a great combination. Ed Harris was curiously absent from the film, showing up in less than half the scenes.

This movie is everything a drama is supposed to be: funny, moving, difficult, sad. Chris Columbus captured some beautiful moments, and some hard ones as well, making the audience better for the journey.