Stepmom

(Columbia Tristar)

Chris Columbus's five-hankie tearjerker crams in every divorce and terminal-illness cliché known to humankind. Susan Sarandon is perfect Manhattan mom Jackie, who clashes with Isabel (Julia Roberts), the young, fashion-photographer girlfriend of her ex-husband (Ed Harris). Meanwhile, Jackie's two kids (Jena Malone and Liam Aiken) act precocious and ask a lot of uncomfortable questions about love. But when Jackie discovers she has cancer, the clan must reconsider and work to become a family.