Stepmom

Jackie (Susan Sarandon) and Luke (Ed Harris) are divorced and have 2 kids, Anna and Ben... These kids are like 12 and 7, about the same as Chris and I were, only reversed... So anyway, Jackie and the kids do not like Isabelle (Julia Roberts) one bit... Well, Ben is really too young to make his own decisions but he does give Isabelle a hard time... He tries to "poison" her by concocting some strange "hot chocolate" and Isabelle is a good sport and drinks it. But Anna talks to Isabelle very bad at some times... Isabelle is trying to make the kids like her when she is keeping them and buys a puppy. Ben goes nuts but Anna claims she is allergic to dogs. Then hen Isabelle suggests they give the dog a name, Anna suggests they name the puppy Isabelle because ,"you kind of smell the same and I am allergic to you too so it fits him perfectly"~~

So, one day Isabelle has to take the kids to work with her and she loses Ben in Central Park... Jackie goes nuts and says she is getting a court order to keep Isabelle away from her kids.

She doesn't, however, because she and Luke agreed to make this as easy on the kids as possible... When Luke decides to propose to Isabelle, Anna goes crazy because she realizes she is stuck with Isabelle... Through all of the mean things Anna says to her, Isabelle is patient and bites her tongue... It all pays off when Anna realizes that Isabelle is actually cool and she likes cool music... She realizes that Isabelle is like a big sister to her in a way and starts treating her right...

Throughout the whole story so far, Jackie has been late picking up her kids, needs Luke to keep the kids more often and even calls to ask if Luke or Isabelle can pick up the kids and bring them home to her... Once Isabelle realizes something is wrong, Jackie admits that she is dying of cancer and has been getting treatments...

Towards the end of the story, both kids realize they are going to lose their mother. They are understandably upset but Jackie gives them very good words of wisdom for them to keep with them after she is gone. The ending is on Christmas Day and Jackie was staying with Luke, Isabelle and the kids in their home... She is getting worse and worse and the movie ends with a group picture in which Jackie insists Isabelle join them in a "picture of the family"... It is a touching story. If you haven't seen it, I suggest you do...

There are several things that stood out to me in this movie... First of all, Luke and Jackie have dinner together to discuss the kids several times... I cannot imagine my parents doing that... Barbara would have had a fit. At first, Luke meets Jackie for dinner at her suggestion because she was going to tell him of her cancer but he told her of how he was going to propose to Isabelle and she decided not to tell him her news... Then they have dinner when Isabelle finds out about Jackie's cancer... The part that got me was that they went alone... Isabelle was secure enough to know that she didn't have to be there. She knew that there were important issues that didn't involve her and she had enough respect to know when to keep herself at home.

Also, there was a part where Luke knocked on Jackie's door and when she opened it, there was a huge Christmas Tree!! He had decided she needed one and brought it to her... Barbara would have gone nuts if my dad ever did that; she would have been convinced they were up to no good just because he decided to be nice... And I mean she would have dont this under the same circumstances... If my mother had been dying when we were little, things would have been no different. She has no compassion for others and thinks that everyone is out to get her... Hmmm~~ The guilty dog always barks first... Should I mention Kenny??? LoL Probably not. She has been so scared all of these years and I bet she is going nuts right now... She has no idea what my dad is doing. No matter who she has watching him, he does work and there is no one watching him then...

After seeing this movie, I see that this is the way it is supposed to be. Barbara would be thrilled if one of us were dying... My mom, me or Chris. It would mean she was another step closer to having my dad all to herself. That's just how demented she is. And now that everyone knows it, I think it is funny. She deserves it.