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All you do is talk talk The poster art for this movie is incredibly deceptive. Yes, the young Kristen Stewart DOES lay one on Adam Brody, but it's once and it's not exactly what the poster is trying to sell you on. There are elements of love in place here, but this is NOT a romance. A movie which is mostly talk and very little action with only a couple of happy time scenes thrown in (I'm guessing to satisfy the people cutting the check for the budget), it doesn't surprise me that it's not doing well at the box office. Coupled with the fact that it was given a LAME publicity package and the fact that most people are tired of The OC and of Meg Ryan's distorted features on the covers of tabloids, it makes sense. But the thing that most people aren't going to factor in is that this was a movie written and directed by a member of a Hollywood legacy. The nephew of writer/director Mark Kasdan who happens to be the brother of Lawrence Kasdan who happens to be the father of Jake and (you guessed it!) the writer/director of this movie, Jon Kasdan. Between the 4 of these men you have movies ranging from THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (L. Kasdan wrote it) to ORANGE COUNTY (Jake wrote and directed it) to SILVERADO (M. Kasdan wrote it) to both of the younger Kasdans being responsible for the uber brilliant television show FREAKS & GEEKS. The reason why I liked F&G so much was that because it was truthful. While there was always an element of humour in the shows that was necessary to make a television series work, no one was ever the butt of any joke unless it was the natural butt of a joke. The people were real, the situations weren't always mind-blowing because they mirrored how situations in real life aren't always mind-blowing. That's what happens with this movie. While it's a little too convenient for me that the lead family is an affluent white one and that Olympia Dukakis is the go-to woman for playing the lunatic grandmother, the scenes of dialog between the characters are real. There's no huge revelations, no screaming and yelling even when the circumstances might have called for it in a lesser movie. There is pain, loss, tragedy, love and hope all mixed together. There is an acceptance of one's lot in life and the willingness to take it as it is rather than fight against the tide like we've been conditioned to do through the examples given to us through the media. Most people don't piss upwind. Most sit down to vacate their bladders. I managed to NOT hate Adam Brody in this flick (I've never watched The OC, but he always just looked like a pompous prick to me) and REALLY, REALLY liked Meg Ryan in addition to the two young actresses playing her daughters (Stewart and Vega). Back in the day Ryan got typecast as America's Sweetheart. It's not really all that bad of a gig if you don't mind living up to it (hey, Goldie Hawn has made a happy career out of it) but it's limiting and has to be frustrating for an actress who knows that she can do better. Later on in her career, Ryan has tried to branch out by playing harder, more "grown-up" roles and been greeted with the sound of people fleeing the theaters. My problem was never with the fact that she wanted to play grown-up roles and not be subjected to constantly smiling and glowing for the camera. My problem wasn't the fact that the roles she picked were so dirty and ugly, geared specifically to say "Hey! Look at how different I can be!" I think she could have done that and pulled it off if she'd picked GOOD dirty roles. What she ended up picking, quite simply, was CRAP roles. It wasn't so much that I didn't want to see American's Sweetheart dirty, I just didn't want to see her wallowing in cinematic sewage. This role is PERFECT for her. She's a mom, she's politely cheerful enough without being grating and she's also not all sunshine and perfection. There are hardships in her life and there are things that she keeps from her husband and her children. It's what Meg Ryan really is: pretty on the outside with depth on the inside. I LOVE that she was able to be showcased so well. I HATE that she's getting almost NO recognition on the posters for the movie (her name is listed third) when she's the heart of the flick and the main reason to go and see it. This isn't a movie that young men are going to be interested in, that golden demographic that everyone tries to pry the dollars out of. And it's a pity that all they would have had to do is market it to the other group of people who happen to have movie dollars to spend: older women with young children, those of us who grew up enjoying Ryan and want to see her in the light that she is in here. If you're a mom, if you have daughters, this is a brilliant movie to watch. And it was written and directed by a GUY. f*ck the Coppolas, it's all about the Kasdans. email this review to a friend
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May 1, 2007 2:37 AM