1 of 3

Because I Said So Our rating: Rate this movie   Your Comments: see all MPAA rating: PG-13 (for sexual content including dialogue, some mature thematic material and partial nudity) Genre: Romantic Comedy Theater release: February 02, 2007 by Universal Directed by: Michael Lehmann Runtime: 1 hour 45 minutes Cast: Diane Keaton (Daphne), Mandy Moore (Milly), Gabriel Macht (Johnny), Tom Everett Scott (Jason), Lauren Graham (Maggie), Piper Perabo(Mae), Stephen Collins (Joe) Related: Talk About It/Family Corner

This year's Oscar hype season has had the pleasant side effect of highlighting the work of several excellent actresses of "a certain age"— Helen Mirren, Judi Dench, and Meryl Streep to name a few. Diane Keaton could also be mentioned in this group of experienced actresses who have recently managed the feat of starring in Hollywood movies with substantial roles for older women.

I loved Keaton's verve in Something's Gotta Give, and I even liked her performance as a dying matriarch in the widely (and I think unfairly) panned The Family Stone. So there was a certain anticipation that her presence in the role of an overbearing mom to three adult daughters in Because I Said So meant the movie would be the best sort of chick flick—wise, witty, and warm. Alas.

Diane Keaton as Daphne a mom whose love knows no bounds … or boundaries

In this age of "helicopter parents," the movie's premise has great potential. Keaton stars as Daphne, the eccentric mom—and single parent—to Maggie (Lauren Graham), Mae (Piper Perabo), and Milly (Mandy Moore). The two older daughters are paired off, but the youngest, Milly, seems to be posing a problem. She's not married (gasp!). It's not for lack of trying. Milly dates, but her choice in men isn't to her mother's liking. Fearful that her daughter will ruin her life by falling for the wrong man, Daphne decides to take matters into her own hands.

Daphne places a personal ad and sets about screening candidates for Milly—without her daughter's knowledge, of course. Two contenders emerge and romantic mayhem ensues, but never are you left wondering how things will work out in the end. The movie plays out like a freshman film school project with a big budget; it's very pretty to look at and every plot twist (or rather: slight curve) is telegraphed with painful precision.

Mandy Moore as insecure caterer Milly

Much of the movie verges on slapstick comedy—physically and emotionally—with an overwrought performance from Keaton and girlish turn from Moore that leaves her cute-as-a-button visage is a perpetual state of smiling bewilderment. Have you ever noticed that when someone lip-synchs a song, they exaggerate their behavior? By the end of the movie, I had the feeling as though these two actresses had lip-synched through the entire script.

Far more absurd than the acting and contrived scenarios is the muddled thinking that has Daphne, and her daughters to a lesser extent, undone at the thought of spending life as a single person. In the same conversation they verbally bandy about a popular symbol of women's liberation (sexual fulfillment, for example) and moon over the fact that Milly might just have a miserable life if she doesn't find a good man. All of these women are smart, have loving families, fulfilling work, and plenty of money. If singleness isn't okay for these women, for whom is it okay? (Read: no one.) I don't necessarily demand a lot of intellectual rigor from my romantic comedies, but the conflation of progressive and arguably conservative values throughout the movie (not just as it relates to marriage, but also to minorities) makes for an inconsistent and frustrating narrative.

The Wilder sisters—Maggie Mae and Milly—discuss their mom

And don't even get me started on the foundational premise that something is wrong with Milly to need help from her mom and sisters. Suffice it to say, only in Hollywood are the endearing quirks of someone who is beautiful and successful (she owns her own catering company no less) seen as a dating liability.

I do think that Because I Said So is an interesting example of how older women are increasingly depicted as being sexy in film. The camera frequently frames Keaton's body in direct relation to her daughter's bodies (the comparison is not unflattering) and her sex life is as much at issue as Milly's. There is certainly more to be said about this trend than this review would allow. But upon initial reflection I'm tempted to say that the broad effect of this treatment is a sort of continued dismissal of womanhood by continuing to frame its concerns within the context of a woman's attractiveness to men for longer and longer stretches of her life.

next page... |  1 of 3 | last page