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.
