Python Hyena Stepmom (1998): Dir: Chris Columbus / Cast: Julia Roberts, Susan Sarandon, Ed Harris, Jena Malone, Liam Aiken: Nauseating spectacle advertised as a cheerful comedy but fits more as a dramatic punch to the genitals. Julia Roberts plays the stepmom who represents growth and the acceptance of further responsibility. Many unnecessary problems enter the lives of the children. The daughter's problems at school are not relevant and poorly handled, and the son's trip to the hospital only serves as an excuse for the two leads to bicker. Roberts is a fashion photographer who wishes to communicate with the children. Sarandon suffers from cancer and uses a former job to cover it up. The result is a boring farce with two highly paid actresses rehearsing Family Feud. Directed half-heartedly by Chris Columbus who seems to lose touch with the subject matter. He dealt with this theme in similar fashion in Mrs. Doubtfire,which is much funnier, while this film is about as depressing as being on a ledge and readying to jump. Roberts and Sarandon bicker until arriving at a contrived revelation. Ed Harris as the ex-husband only surfaces for plot convenience. As for the children, they sniffle and whine until those closing credits indicating the film is over gives viewers reason to cheer. As oppose to a theme of amendments, it presents a celebrity argument. Score: 1 / 10

juneebuggy I hadn't seen this tearjerker in years but remembered really enjoying it. If I'm honest think I liked it more the first time around than in my re-watch. Its still a pretty good movie that you can't help getting pulled into, a bit soap opera-ie, lots of angst, moments of humour all held together by a great cast.Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon give amazing performances here (even if Julia's lips are distracting at times) The kids also do a great job capturing cute, bratty and sad realistically. The little boy is very cute. Ed Harris even pops in and out as the father/boyfriend (which is always nice) but this story is about the relationship between the woman.So yeah this is a heart-tugger with Roberts playing a career minded photographer whose relationship with a lawyer (Harris) gets complex as she clashes with his supermom ex-wife (Sarandon) over the well being of the children. They are forced to rise above however when Sarandon is diagnosed with cancer and that's when things get super sad. 07.13

SnoopyStyle Jackie (Susan Sarandon) and Luke (Ed Harris) are divorced with 2 kids Anna (Jena Malone) and Ben (Liam Aiken). He's been seeing Isabel (Julia Roberts) a top fashion photographer. Jackie and Isabel clash over mothering styles. It all comes crashing down when Jackie is diagnose with cancer.These characters seems too fake to me. I think it may be Julia Roberts' fault. I can't really picture her as this character. Maybe it's her star power, or maybe it's that she doesn't play the young trophy girlfriend that often. And I never could imagine Sarandon and Harris as parents to two little kids. There is something wrong with the family makeup that I can't quite put a finger on.Director Chris Columbus doesn't do a good job at making this a more compelling movie. It starts too light heartedly with too many joke attempts. I think it's a mistake to try for the comedic route. It's even worst since the attempts fail. Then comes the constant fighting, bickering, and incessant back biting which really put me off. Then comes the cancer.This is a miss for me. I just don't really feel it. Maybe people of divorces relate to this movie more. I think there's a great possible movie idea to dive deeply into the mother character. This one is trying too hard to see it through Isabel's eyes.

TenaciousTexan 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.