August 22, 2009: Because I Said So
Continuing the string of movies presented to us one evening on a long ferry ride which had begun with Coraline for the kids and The World’s Fastest Indian for the family, I guess someone figured that Because I Said So would be suitable for grownups in the 10pm timeslot, even though approximately none of the kids were yet asleep by that point, since the lights were still on and there was still sound blaring from TVs everywhere you looked.
Because I Said So is one in what I perceive to be a sad string of modern Diane Keaton movies, where she plays a shrill, aging and overbearing mother. I don’t suppose I can name any off the top of my head other than Something’s Gotta Give with Jack Nicholson from 2003, which is certainly the only other one I’ve actually seen. Then again, they don’t seem to be aimed at my demographic. For some reason I find myself not liking to see Oscar-winner and respected actress Diane Keaton reduced to making this kind of crap, but then I realize that I don’t seem to have a problem with lots of other respectable stars making their paycheque movies (Al Pacino, anyone?), so I’m happy to admit that Keaton has the right to make whatever junk she feels like making.
I started reading a book about 15 minutes into this movie. I simply couldn’t stand to pay full attention to it. I wouldn’t have walked out of it in a theatre, but it takes something seriously huge to make that happen, along the lines of “I can’t even imagine what would make me do that”. On the other hand, if it’s on in the background, I can deal with taking and leaving however much of the movie I want to. Because I Said So is about a mother who does secret personal-ad matchmaking for her daughter whose engagement has recently been broken. We get a completely cliched situation where the mother selects who she thinks is the perfect guy from the crop of guys who answer the personal ad, and a cool but quirky musician who discovers (and challenges) her scheme turns out to be the perfect match for her daughter. Do I need to tell you how this ends?
I will give this movie one compliment, and that is that it doesn’t insist on demonizing the guy who the mother selected. He meets the daughter and they start dating, of course, but he isn’t revealed as being violent or otherwise abusive or anything like that – he’s just kind of self-absorbed and they don’t end up being a match.
Skip this movie. It’s terrible and a waste of time in my opinion. I hope the people who wanted to make money from it made their money, and the people who wanted to be entertained by it were entertained. That is all.
Unfunny and desperate Diane Keaton vehicle.
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