It's so hard to find the one. Why not let your mother put a personal ad in the newspaper for you, screen the responding candidates, and then trick you into stumbling upon the perfect guy? That's the basic plot of this Diane Keaton-Mandy Moore, mother-daughter romantic comedy.
The more convoluted breakdown of this film revolves around Keaton projecting her own romance troubles on her daughter. Truth be told Milly (Moore) is hopeless. I barely remember the rejects she fell for--because women were at the forefront of almost every scene--but the way that she crumbled once they abandoned her didn't give them very good street cred. Daphne (Keaton) had a soul-sucking burden formerly known as her husband who never delivered in the love department, despite the fact that they had three girls together. This movie is just as much about Daphne's renewed faith in love as it is Milly's attempt to decide which knight's armor is the shiniest--the suave and debonaire architect (Tom Everett Scott) or the dreamy and artistic musician (Gabriel Macht).
Moore didn't fail in morphing into this young, quirky, desperate mama's girl. She has a genuine knack for acting. I'm sure the motivation of sitting across Diane Keaton didn't hurt either. Speaking of which, Keaton keeps getting roped into playing semi-psychotic, overbearing, overly opinionated mothers to needy and damaged children, i.e. Something's Gotta Give and The Family Stone. Hell, she just finished rapping a film called Smother, about a guy whose mom moves in to pressure him into having a baby with his wife. Come on. Is there no other kind of mother out there?
Moore's sisters, played by Lauren Graham ("Gilmore Girls") and Piper Perabo (Coyote Ugly), were also a joy to watch. The casting was very well done. Despite the slight differences in appearance, they were in sync as sisters. It was a nice surprise to see Stephen Collins ("7th Heaven") play a non-religious and semi-attractive dad/grandfather for once and even nicer to see "Arrested Development" alum Tony Hale wiggle his way into scenes, stealing them right from under the main characters.
To be honest, if it weren't for the hot guy, Macht, this movie wouldn't work too well. It's a bonafide deal breaker. If the lead romantic interest is less appealing than Dustin Diamond ("Saved by the Bell"), then no matter how well written the film is it will suck.
The film itself--not factoring in acting and storyline--was sort of clocked weird. The first 10 minutes set up the reason for Keaton's obsession with this specific daughter--the other two are already married--with snapshots of wedding celebrations. That's understandable. But after Keaton's chosen her daughter's future husband, every encounter that Milly has with each guy she's dating has no natural connection. It's like they filmed a bunch of scenes and threw them all together. And Keaton's relationship is reduced to great sex, which isn't what she was advocating to her daughter and therefore sort of hypocritical. The director, Michael Lehmann (40 Days and 40 Nights), just needed to have a better structure so that nothing was left on the cutting room floor.
The more convoluted breakdown of this film revolves around Keaton projecting her own romance troubles on her daughter. Truth be told Milly (Moore) is hopeless. I barely remember the rejects she fell for--because women were at the forefront of almost every scene--but the way that she crumbled once they abandoned her didn't give them very good street cred. Daphne (Keaton) had a soul-sucking burden formerly known as her husband who never delivered in the love department, despite the fact that they had three girls together. This movie is just as much about Daphne's renewed faith in love as it is Milly's attempt to decide which knight's armor is the shiniest--the suave and debonaire architect (Tom Everett Scott) or the dreamy and artistic musician (Gabriel Macht).
Moore didn't fail in morphing into this young, quirky, desperate mama's girl. She has a genuine knack for acting. I'm sure the motivation of sitting across Diane Keaton didn't hurt either. Speaking of which, Keaton keeps getting roped into playing semi-psychotic, overbearing, overly opinionated mothers to needy and damaged children, i.e. Something's Gotta Give and The Family Stone. Hell, she just finished rapping a film called Smother, about a guy whose mom moves in to pressure him into having a baby with his wife. Come on. Is there no other kind of mother out there?
Moore's sisters, played by Lauren Graham ("Gilmore Girls") and Piper Perabo (Coyote Ugly), were also a joy to watch. The casting was very well done. Despite the slight differences in appearance, they were in sync as sisters. It was a nice surprise to see Stephen Collins ("7th Heaven") play a non-religious and semi-attractive dad/grandfather for once and even nicer to see "Arrested Development" alum Tony Hale wiggle his way into scenes, stealing them right from under the main characters.
To be honest, if it weren't for the hot guy, Macht, this movie wouldn't work too well. It's a bonafide deal breaker. If the lead romantic interest is less appealing than Dustin Diamond ("Saved by the Bell"), then no matter how well written the film is it will suck.
The film itself--not factoring in acting and storyline--was sort of clocked weird. The first 10 minutes set up the reason for Keaton's obsession with this specific daughter--the other two are already married--with snapshots of wedding celebrations. That's understandable. But after Keaton's chosen her daughter's future husband, every encounter that Milly has with each guy she's dating has no natural connection. It's like they filmed a bunch of scenes and threw them all together. And Keaton's relationship is reduced to great sex, which isn't what she was advocating to her daughter and therefore sort of hypocritical. The director, Michael Lehmann (40 Days and 40 Nights), just needed to have a better structure so that nothing was left on the cutting room floor.
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