Who knew that Diane Keaton was so funny? Sure, she showed a great affinity for the precise timing of physical comedy in Annie Hall and has likewise bared her comedic chops in many other films of the 1960s and 1970s. But what has she been in lately? Lucky for Keaton (and the rest of us), the actress was tapped for writer-director Nancy Meyers' latest battle of the sexes, Something's Gotta Give.
What a clever stroke of genius it was to have the never-married, twice-a-mother, feminist Keaton play… well, herself. As divorced, middle-aged famous playwright Erica Barry, Keaton shines with a wisdom and gentle wit that only a woman her age could acquire. The female stars of the movie actually get better as they ascend in age, from Erica's caring, adult daughter Marin (the ever-charming Amanda Peet), to Erica's blunt sister (Frances McDormand as a professor of women's studies, no less), to Erica herself. The movie revels in elder stars McDormand and Keaton, who have never been quite as charming or attractive.
Erica's quite world of self-imposed singlehood is shattered when she stumbles upon 60-year-old playboy Harry Sanborn (Jack Nicholson) standing in his boxers in the kitchen of her Hamptons' beach house. Harry, as it turns out, is dating Marin, and he never passes up an opportunity to make Erica feel old. When Harry suffers a mild heart-attack, he is instructed by doctor Julian Mercer (Keanu Reeves, who is actually good) to remain at Erica's beach house until he recovers. As the movie progresses, Erica finds herself fending off the attentions of both Harry and Julian. Viagra jokes and other sorts of hilarity ensue.
Meyers couldn't have cast this movie any better. She arranged this film so that none of her principle actors would ever have to act. You have Diane Keaton playing herself, Jack Nicholson playing a slightly exaggerated version of Jack Nicholson (you mean he really is a shameless, cradle-robbing, skirt-chaser in real life?) and Keanu Reeves looking cool and collected, like in every other film he has ever been in (the difference being that this time, like in the loser-pothead adventures of those lovable idiots Bill And Ted, it works to his advantage). Maybe the Matrix would have been better if it had been Nicholson and Keaton whooping butt alongside Reeves instead of Laurence Fishburne and Carrie-Anne Moss.
Something's Gotta Give is a movie about how funny and creepy older-man-younger-woman relationships are, as well as how much fun it can actually be to act your age once in a while (a rarity in Hollywood). One of the funniest lines in the film comes when Julian approaches the worried Marin after Harry's heart attack. "Don't worry, your father is going to be fine," says Julian in a comforting tone. "He's not my father," replies Marin. "I'm sorry," Julian corrects himself, "you're granddad." Who knew that it was so much fun to act your age?
John Visclosky. John Visclosky is, suffice it to say, "hardly the sharpest intellectual tool in the shed," which is why he has stupidly chosen to here address himself in the third person. He's a mellow sort of guy who enjoys movies and sharing his feelings and innermost … More »
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