Rated PG-13 for sexual content including dialogue, some mature thematic material and partial nudity.
102 Minutes
Directed By: Michael Lehmann
Written By: Karen Leigh Hopkins and Jessie Nelson
Staring: Diane Keaton, Mandy Moore, Gabriel Macht, Tom Evertt Scott, Lauren Graham, Piper Perabo, and Stephen Collins
God couldn’t be everywhere so that is why he invented mothers. -Daphne Wilder
Synopsis
A meddling mother sets her youngest daughter up without her daughter knowing about it.
Review
In the end of the pool where shallow romantic comedies linger, “Because I Said So” found it’s peer group. A neurotic mother is meddling so her youngest daughter can find love followed by predictable slap stick events. It’s so typical in it’s essence that it’s mere plot line is not only disturbing, but painful. What women and men relate to this I couldn’t comprehend. The setup is intended for humorous moments where people are confused and have wacky misunderstandings that build to it’s climax, relying heavily on the star quality of Diane Keaton. It’s predictable and just not funny. Ever. From the first scene it becomes doomed for disaster.
Because I Said So may have been doomed from it’s start, but it’s most appalling quality was that the writers and director somehow make even Diane Keaton’s and Mandy Moore’s characters unlikeable. Everything about their behavior is frivolous. The only redeeming quality of the cliche ridden mess was Gabriel Macht who offered moments of charm that dissipated the migraine inducing factor.
With a different director and script the idea of a tense relationship between a single mother and three daughters has it’s appeal and could have been a decent movie that people would have liked. But this film was nowhere close to likeble. A familiar trend is starting to become clear. If Mandy Moore is in the title the future may be a bit darker. Because I Said So is another banal attempt at making the unfunny funny and the shallow waters deeper. It was nearly unwatchable.
