“Stepmom.” Directed by Chris Columbus. Written by Gigi Levangie, Jessie Nelson, Steven Rogers, Karen Leigh Hopkins and Ron Bass. Running time: 124 minutes. Rated PG-13 (for language and thematic elements).

Chris Columbus’ “Stepmom” is the perfect film for those who are content with low entertainment and those who come to films not to see something fresh or new but to be force-fed old ideas and tired cliches as performed by actors who, like dishrags, are absolutely interchangeable.

For others, those with more discerning tastes who prefer substance over trash, “Stepmom” will likely disappoint, particularly because the film wastes a perfect opportunity to explore real issues with stepparenting in the late 1990s.

At its heart — and “Stepmom” wants you to know it has a very big, very warm heart — the film stands as a shining monument to the embarrassingly manipulative, the sickeningly sweet, the hopelessly maudlin. Its sole purpose is not so much to entertain as it is to make you feel something — anything — in a desperate attempt to make you cry.

The film stars Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon, two women who should have known better than to join forces in such silly, sentimental hogwash. As Isabel, a big-city fashion photographer who lives with the very dull Luke (Ed Harris), Roberts must come to terms with the very difficult Jackie (Sarandon), Luke’s former wife whose two very hurt and very confused children predictably dislike Isabel but eventually come to love her because, well, that’s how films like this turn out.

The film’s five writers — yes, five were brought on board, all of whom clearly only dropped by to add their favorite cliches to the script — apparently felt compelled to soften Sarandon’s character not by having her work through her jealousy and accept her ex-husband’s new love but by giving her cancer — yes, cancer — putting her through chemotherapy and allowing us all to watch her suffer.

What fun — a terrific learning experience for her and for the audience.

To Sarandon’s credit, she has her affecting moments, somehow digging deep to make the material work. But the addition of cancer into a story that’s essentially about stepparenting feels so forced and artificially constructed, it ultimately takes away from her performance — while also disrespecting those people actually living with cancer.

“Terms of Endearment” and the recent “One True Thing” never crossed that line, instead allowing cancer into their storylines in ways that seemed natural, something “Stepmom” couldn’t understand because the film itself is so unnatural — the characters, the situations, the settings, the Reader’s Digest dialogue.

Pity. In the end, there are no surprises in “Stepmom,” whose hallmark isn’t so much its courage and great glimpses of insight as it is its overwhelming lack of courage and insight. But there is nausea, lots of bubbling nausea, most of which has nothing to do with Sarandon’s chemotherapy. Grade: D+

Video of the Week

“Cousin Bette.” Directed by Des McAnuff. Written by Lynn Siefert and Susan Tarr. Based on the novel by Honore de Balzac. Running time: 108 minutes. Rated R (for brief nudity and sexuality).

There are so many evil machinations, so much caterwauling, greed, spiteful wrongdoing, messy sex, bared bottoms, bared teeth and triumphant hissy fits in director Des McAnuff’s campy interpretation of Balzac’s “Cousin Bette,” one can almost feel the spirit of Aaron Spelling hovering over the production, whipping and snapping at the actors like some clownish muse.

Indeed, the film feels like an 1840s version of Spelling’s popular — and way over the top — “Dynasty,” which ran for far too long on television but could always be counted on for its tomfoolery, spiteful wrongdoing, messy sex and, well, you get the idea.

Happily, this bizarre adaptation of “Cousin Bette,” which stars Jessica Lange in the title role, offers the same surreal type of trumped-up fun that made “Dynasty” a hit. None of what unfolds here is to believed, which is perhaps the greatest compliment the film could be given. The film, which is essentially about a tragic, bitchy old maid (Lange) who exacts revenge on her family for destroying her chances at having a romantic life, exists as a sort of restrained temper tantrum — that is, of course, until the end, when Cousin Bette, rising to her full power, levels her family in one fell, awful and dramatic swoop.

Grade: B

Christopher Smith is the Bangor Daily News film critic. His reviews appear each Monday in the NEWS. Each Thursday on WLBZ’s “News Center 5:30 Today,” he reviews what’s new and worth renting in video stores.