It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

I saw this after getting a leukemia diagnosis..watched it alone in a hotel room..I had a son and daughter...my son used to say the same things to me...great set-up for tears right?? Don't understand the ease with which Luke is able to just dump his family for Isabelle who doesn't seem to have any clothes other than leather or a burgundy sweater set...sorry these folks don't exist in real life. Why marry Luke Isabelle?? He has a young son but just "falls" out of love with his wife and leaves them?? I cry bullshit. Luke's answers are so maniacally 1 dimensional it frustrated me....and she is supposed to be some great photographer but is just willing to give up her career? Did anyone think the daughter was such a brat because Mom had issues when life focused on someone other than her? Too many questions, pretty house - pretty topical stuff but too many selfish adults in one movie to make any sense.

Director Chris Columbus continues to explore the family turmoil of divorce in the tearjerker Stepmom, a story that pits the birth mother against the new mother.This comedy drama stars Julia Roberts, Susan Sarandon, and Ed Harris together with Jena Malone and Liam Aiken.Jackie, a one-time book editor, is now the consummate soccer mom juggling the schedules of her two kids in her New York ranch outside of Manhattan. Her ex-husband Luke, who gets weekend custody of the kids, is living in the city with a woman half his age named Isabel, a high- fashion photographer with a strong sense of style. Since Luke is always away at work, the burden of getting the kids ready for school when they are with their father falls on Isabel, and she just isn't the nurturing type. The story heats up, however, when Jackie learns that she has cancer. Facing the horrors of medical tests and chemotherapy, she realizes that, should something happen to her, her kids will be left with this irresponsible Isabel as their mother, especially after Luke proposes marriage to her. What ensues is part parenting lesson, part competitive parenting, but 100 percent family bonding, as Jackie must learn to allow Isabel to be part of her world and her family.The movie manages to touch on that chord because it shows how an ambitious woman might feel hampered by the responsibility of children just because she's fallen in love with their dad.It's an issue that haunts millions of second wives everywhere, and Julia Roberts portrays that role extremely well. Susan Sarandon's performance as a mom about to be replaced by her ex-husband's new girlfriend has a lot of bite, and it's a shame the script opted to marginalize and trivialize her plight in its final reel.The film tries to avoid complexities in the screenplay and it 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. That is the reason why this film falls short its potential to have been a great film.

As a stepmom, I have quite a few things to say about this film. I think this is one of the worst films the great Susan Sarandon and Julia Roberts have ever been in. This is basically about a man who is divorced with 2 kids who has a new, much younger girlfriend. I don't want to explain everything about the movie, just a few annoying points. First of all, the biological mother played by Sarandon lives in an incredibly beautiful and expensive home in Connecticut. She also has lots of land and horses. Sarandon apparently does not work either. The father played by Harris lives in the city in another incredibly beautiful and expensive place and they all drive expensive cars. How is this possible? With the bio-mom receiving the house, the child support and alimony payments it's a wonder he is not living in a 1 bedroom apartment. According to the way everybody is living, he must be a multi millionaire. Of course the new girlfriend, Roberts, is a trendy fashion photographer. Uygh. It seems everybody has lots of money. That is what irks me, because along with all the drama involved in being part of a blended family, one major problem is money. Ex- wives taking their ex-husbands back to court for more support, etc.. The struggles of the second family to make ends meet because 30% of the fathers income is going to his ex-wife. Apparently this is not an issue here. Another thing is the ex-husband, Harris, meets his ex- wife, Sarandon for dinner to discuss the fact that he will be asking his girlfriend, Roberts, to marry him. Come on. I can understand telling the bio-mom before you tell the kids, but telling her before you give your girlfriend the ring? It was like he was asking permission from his ex-wife to ask his girlfriend to marry him. It's so nice that ex-spouses can get along so well. Detect sarcasm. Oooh, if I found out my fiancé did that he'd be in a world of trouble. Another thing that irked me was that Roberts received a call on the job to pick up her future stepson at school. Apparently, the mom and dad could not do it and nobody else was available. I believe you have to be on a list at the school to be allowed to remove children for the safety of the kids. How did the fathers girlfriend get on that list? Please. So she risks her job to pick up a child that she is not responsible for. She goes back to her photo shoot in the park with the kid, but he wanders off. He eventually gets found, but when the bio mom finds out she is furious, and files a restraining order against Roberts. Huh? How about reprimanding the kid for wandering off when he was specifically told not to, and then not allowing Roberts to take responsibility for the kids ever again? If Roberts lives with the kids father, a restraining order seems quite ridiculous. I have to say, that this film shows a fantasy that most stepmoms have when dealing with unreasonable, jealous ex-wives. That fantasy is the bio mom dying. Yes, Sarandon has cancer and is going to die. How wonderful that would be for so many non custodial stepmoms, no more alimony, child support payments, a hefty life insurance policy payout, and no more controlling ex-wife poisioning the kids against their father and stepmom. But this is a fantasy, not reality. This film ends up not about being a stepmom and having a successful family, but tying up loose ends and preparing the kids for having a replacement mom when the bio mom dies.

Chris Columbus directed 'Stepmom' is a winner all the way... a true 1998 Classic! The film is highly entertaining, in fact there is hardly a moment when you feel bored in this 123 minute-film. Columbus has made superb films, and 'Stepmom' ranks as his best.The film has a beautiful story, a story about a divorced couple, their children and the Stepmom. The film explains the worth of a family... it surely leaves a great moral behind. The climax is superb, it gets you moist-eyed.Performance-wise: Ed Harris is Incredible, as ever. He steals the show in a small, but significant role. Julia Roberts is fantastic as the Stepmom. Susan Sarandon needs to mentioning, she's a class apart. Liam Aiken & Jena Malone, the kids, stand out.On the whole 'Stepmom' is a must watch for each and every cine-lover.