07-07-19 Because I Said So (2007)

Seen: July 13th, 2007
Format: DVD
Rating: 2

Look, I get chick flicks. I understand women well enough to realize that, in general, emotional issues are important to them. When family dynamics get involved things become even more dramatic and this creates fertile ground for film.

So who salted the earth?

There's nothing fundamentally wrong with this film. Taken as a pitch, the story is OK, not great, but not terrible. The cast is good. I like them. In wish some of them had more screen time.

The problem here is the story. It's cliche ridden and not nearly as clever as it tried to be. The whole thing from start to finish is strident and overblown. Not one thing surprised me about this film. It was trite and predictable.

I'm not fan of Diane Keaton, but don't hate her either. But here, I found myself actually hating her character. This isn't a woman with a few endearing faults that will learn a valuable lesson by the end of the film, this is a woman I want to push in front of a bus. This can't be all Keaton's fault, because she didn't write the script, but somehow she manages to endow this character with not one shred of humanity. When she cries, I fell manipulated and that's she's manipulating everyone else in the scene.

Other characters fare better. The sisters, played by Graham and Perabo are good. They're actually the best part of the the picture. While not very developed, they have interesting idiosyncrasies and play the family dynamic well. These are the few moments of comedic relief that actually function.

The male leads are thin on character as well. Jason is so painfully thin, self-absorbed and pedantic that I can't tell whether he is brilliantly or terribly characterized. Macht does a decent job, given what he's give to work with.

Poor Mandy Moore. She does OK here, but again the character isn't the best. While Milly is the best developed of the characters, she's certainly not very interesting. The emotional beating she continually takes from her mother makes her almost as appalling.

I could go on, but it's really not worth the effort. Avoid this film like the plague.

The Good: Lauren Graham and Piper Perabo

The Bad: Melodramatic predictability

The Ugly: Can't be any more cliche ridden