SOMETHING’S GOTTA GIVE (2003) **

Reviewed 12/13/03

While 63-year old music label guru Harry (Jack Nicholson) is dating much younger Marin (Amanda Peet), he meets her mother, Erica (Diane Keaton), a successful playwright living in the Hamptons. When Harry has a heart attack, he winds up in Erica’s care. Both Harry and his forward 36-year old doctor, Julian (Keanu Reeves), fall in love with Erica. Theme totally drives plot in this story about age-appropriate/inappropriate romance. Not only does the too on-the-nose dialogue often sound more like a debate meet than natural conversation, writer-director Nancy Meyers’ engages in ridiculous contrivances to keep the story moving forward –  that a heart attack victim would stay in the house of a virtual stranger to recover, Marin’s motivations, one-in-a-million chance meetings, etc. The movie also feels longer than The Bible. After dismissing numerous more promising opportunities to end, it finally finishes on the most cheap and mawkish one of all.

Nancy Meyers’ direction is flat and clumsy, displaying no visual flair whatsoever, but her writing is more promising. She lucidly captures awkward moments between characters, and the movie has its amusing moments. Nicholson is nicely self-deprecating, Keanu is not bad at all for Keanu, Amanda Peet, whom I’ve never been impressed by, is the best I’ve ever seen her, and Frances McDormand, playing Erica’s sister, steals every scene she’s in. Keaton is more than adequate, but her performance comes off a bit forced with all the laughing and crying, especially during one terribly annoying joke about her endless sobbing.