The Family Stone

Writer and director Thomas Bezucha put the nine cast members playing the Stones through several weeks of rehearsal so they would bond well enough off-camera to convincingly portray a family. This included a crash course in American Sign Language, as eight of the nine characters would be called upon to utilize American Sign Language in the script to either communicate with or interpret for the character of Thaddeus. While some critics, and the cast members themselves, pointed out that their American Sign Language use was sub-par, it was actually a realistic portrayal of a hearing family's use of the language, which is often perfunctory at best.

Some scenes of the Family Stone's "New England town" were actually filmed in the Borough of Madison, NJ. An aerial shot of the town square clearly shows a New Jersey Transit train pulling out of the station, such trains do not run into New England.

Featured in Late Night with Conan O'Brien: Jack Black/Rachel McAdams/Charles Ross (2005)