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Diane Keaton is excellent - playing Erica, a rather different kind of character from her usual somewhat harassed mother of several children. In this film she’s a slim, attractive playwright in her early fifties; separated from her husband (Paul Michael Glaser) amicably - so much so that he still works as her agent. They have one daughter, Marin (Amanda Peet), who’s 28. We meet her as she’s on her way to the huge family home for a weekend with her new boyfriend.
Which would be fine, except that the ‘boyfriend’, Harry, is played by Jack Nicholson, and is 63. There’s nothing wrong with a large age gap between partners, but we quickly learn that Harry is a serial womaniser who only ever dates women under the age of 30. As so often with characters played by this actor, he’s sleazy, and (in my view) entirely unappealing.
Mild humour emerges when Erica and her sister Zoe (Frances McDormand) arrive unexpectedly and think Harry is a burglar. Once that’s sorted out, they’re both quite accepting of him as a partner for Erica’s daughter, and they agree to stay, keeping out of each other’s way… until a medical emergency sends them all to hospital. Keanu Reeves plays a very helpful, friendly and attractive doctor called Julian, who turns out to be a huge fan of Erica’s plays. I thought he was one of the nicest characters in the film.
There’s a bit of slapstick, and reality has to be suspended several times. For instance, Erica’s plays are all instant hits… her daughter sells million-dollar art at an auction… Harry has had not just a few or even a dozen but apparently hundreds of relationships with young women. But the most unlikely thing, in my mind, is Erica being attracted to Harry, who comes across as untrustworthy, unreliable, and extremely unhealthy.
There’s a lot of ‘adult’ humour and bad language that really adds nothing to the plot; bedroom scenes are not explicit so that the rating is 15; not that anyone under the age of 30 is likely to have any interest in a film like this. There are some partial nudity shots (with a great deal more implied) done for humour rather than being provocative, and we did smile a few times. But the ‘romantic’ threads of this ‘rom-com’ really did nothing for me.
The film was made in 2003; we had guessed it was at least fifteen years old, partly because Diana Keaton looks so young - and partly because of the very basic mobile phones that do nothing but phone calls and text messages. However it didn’t feel all that dated otherwise. And it’s well done, with a good pace, and a few thought-provoking comments - such as the problems older, intelligent single or divorced women apparently have in finding romantic partners.
Diane Keaton is perfect in her part; sometimes exaggerating her emotions and actions, sometimes giving her amazing smile, sometimes wise and intelligent. She’s a bit of an uptight character at first - despite being so relaxed with her daughter - and is released from that in a way that feels unrealistic and rather sleazy. I have never much liked characters played by Jack Nicholson, and Harry is no exception. He supposedly realises the error of his ways towards the end of the film, but it appears artificial; I didn’t trust him at all.
I didn’t like the ending much, either. I would have cut the last brief scene set in Paris towards the end, and then changed the epilogue scenes to involve a different character. The way it ended left me feeling a bit disturbed. I suppose it’s a mark of a good film that the characters got under my skin so much.
There are a few extras - mainly commentaries, and one deleted scene involving a somewhat schmaltzy song.
I sound negative - but it’s not a bad film; I felt quite engrossed in the story for most of it. Apparently Diane Keaton won several awards for it. We may well watch it again in a few years.
