The Critics Speak

Something's Gotta Give

Critic: Steph Lewis
On a scale of 0 to Awesome, I rate this: Good!
Released: December 12, 2003
Director: Nancy Meyers
MPAA Rating: PG-13, sexual content, brief nudity, and strong language

First of all, Diane Keaton, who usually irritates me, is absolutely phenomenal in this movie! I was quite proud of her for really, finally, pulling off a real woman with quirks and needs and dreams and hilarity! So, kudos.

Beyond that, this movie is about an old dude named Harry (Jack Nicholson) who is known for dating the much-younger-than-him ladies. So, he's going out with Marin(Amanda Peet), who is absolutely sweet, but finds his aging circumstances make life more difficult as his body starts to fall apart. After a heart attack, he gets begrudgingly nursed back to health by Marin's older, divorced mom, Erica. When Harry & Erica begin to have feelings for each other, it leave the audience wondering if they can overcome their past issues to be there for each other. Subplots include Harry's doctor (Keanu Reeves) trying to get a piece of Erica for himself, Marin's dad getting hooked up with a young woman of his own, and Erica striving to write another award-winning play.

At first I thought this movie was just another hokey romance flick, but only watched it because some of my fave critics enjoyed it. It started slow, but I ended up laugh/squealing and hiding under my sweater as Harry tries to be all sexy. Nothing quite beats Jack Nicholson making "Mmmmmm" sounds while kissing someone on screen. Whoa. We see the men & women do their typical things (woman wants to commit, man can't do it)...but through the quirky lenses of people who are aging and & confused.

Keanu Reeves can't act, unless he is playing someone who is void of emotion (like in The Matrix). This charcter, unfortunately, required some signs of humanity, which he didn't quite pull off. I found myself waving my arms exclaiming for him to just leave the screen so I could watch Keaton & Nicholson some more.

This movie is especially fun if you watch it with your witty friends who are good at making comments at just the right place. I watched it with my mom and she kept screaming, "EWWWWWWWWWW!!!!! EWWWWWWWWW!!!" This just added to the hilarity of the whole experience. Fun movie.