Something's Gotta Give. But what? Jack Nicholson said at an interview that a
romantic comedy is something like the little black cocktail dress, it's difficult
to do something different with it. But director Nancy Myers does. Director of
The Parent Trap and What Women Want, Myers brings us the story of a 57-year-old
Erica Berry, a divorced woman who has given up on love--not that she doesn't
believe in it, it's just that thought she was closed for business. Until her
daughter brings home Harry Langer, a 63-year-old playboy who promptly has a heart
attack.
Much to her disgust, Erica is lumped with the job of nursemaid. Comfortably
installed in her house in the Hamptons, Erica is working on her next play. She
doesn't have any ideas of what it will be about, except she believes it will have
an autobiographical bent. Instead of working, however, she has to deal with the
demands of Harry and the attentions of Harry's doctor, who has an immense crush
on Erica.
Forced to spend time alone together, Harry and Erica find some commonalities and
it's all rather obvious what will blossom next. Except Harry gets better and goes
back to New York and his previous life-style, leaving Erica's heart in tatters.
So ends the first act of the movie. To me, these early scenes of the movie are
rather clunky. Diane Keaton, as Erica, over-reacts to Jack Nicholson's antics.
The plot doesn't flow well at all. Jack is far too old and fat for Erica's
daughter, played by Amanda Peet, and Frances McDormand's role as Erica's sister,
is labored. She's forced to spout feminist dogma, albeit in the guise of
research--she's a women's studies professor. She ends up as a weird feminist
conscience almost as if director Nancy Myers wants to reassure the female viewer
that she knows she's dealing with volatile stuff here.
Erica's romance with Harry's doctor--played by Keanu Reeves--is similarly
contrived. Rather than chemistry, there's real awkwardness as these two conduct
a love affair. We're obviously to draw parallels--Keanu and Dianne ages are as
disparate as Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas.
Those criticisms said, the movie moves into more solid footing in the second act.
Alone at last, Erica divides her time equally between weeping for Harry and
writing. Now she has the subject matter, she's on a roll. And the movie similarly
moves along nicely.
In the final analysis, I enjoyed Something's Gotta Give. It was a pleasure to
see an older woman as the object of desire in the story. It's exciting to see
Diane Keaton--always a cutting edge actress--continue to make movies in roles other
than the eccentric older woman or mother. It's also comforting to see Keaton age
without shame. Although the movie posters airbrush her almost to non-existence,
on the big screen she wears the wrinkles she's earned.
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