just watch it!

What a freaking movie. So many twists and turns. Absolutely intense from start to finish.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

The title of my post sums it up really. This film is about a mother and her three daughters who talk in whiny voices and use tears to try and justify their behaviour and manipulate each other. The mother also lies to her daughters and sneaks around behind their backs to fulfil her own agendas.Keaton's character reminded me of my mother who would try and guilt trip us about everything to control us and make us have no life so she wouldn't be alone. My sister bought the tears and 'loving' words such as "You can't leave home after everything I've done for you", "I am your mother and I love you very much, this is why I don't want you to be hurt", "You can't leave home because there are men waiting to rape you". Yeah really loving mother who was out for herself and didn't want us to choose our own lives and live them.I was so angry while watching this film and was just waiting for Mandy Moore's character to do what she wanted- then she just ended up doing what her mother wanted anyway. The DVD would be a good door stop though, except door stops are cheaper.If you don't like watching films about women guilt tripping each other and no comedy (even though they are labelled as such to manipulate you into watching), stay away from this glorified door stop at the video store.

There is a school of film reviewing which suggests that every film should have a mission, a purpose, even if that purpose is known only to the director. This film however suggests that it is indeed possible for even the director not to know what kind of film he is making. Going into this charade, Michael Lehmann had a weak (VERY WEAK) script, but some of the best talent in the biz to compensate with. Dianne Keaton, love her or hate her, has gotten tremendous mileage out of her single breakout role (annie hall) and can at least be relied upon to hold up her character when all around her are drowning. Not here. Playing the Mother From Hell, most viewers, both male and female, would, 45 mins into the story, be more inclined to drop her from the nearest helicopter rather than put up with one more moment of her bullying. The object of her bullying, Mandy Moore, looks equally lost. This film is as far from her artistry in WALK TO REMEMBER as the North Pole is from the South, and if you break it down scene by scene you will find she is having trouble with the dialogue, and actually mugging for the camera (not intentionally) while the aforesaid director does nothing to restrain her. One has to wonder if this film damaged her career path? The IMDb rating is not only justified, it is a tad high. There is nothing entertaining about this film except maybe Lauren Graham who seems genetically happy no matter what production she pops up in. Ugh.

I kept hoping and praying for this movie to get better. It's littered with cliché... Let me preface this by saying that I LOVE ANNIE HALL. I love that movie. It was a wonder and revelation for me. Here comes the pain...It's Diane Keaton being "Diane Keaton" yet again. I want to see her play something other than herself. It was cool in Annie Hall, but it's tired now. It's also more neurotic. What a shame. It's like going from the Oscars to the local dinner theater. Even a case of laryngitis couldn't shut this character's trap! The ONLY time I saw Diane Keaton NOT play "Diane Keaton" in this movie was her face after she asked Mandy Moore's character what it feels like to have an orgasm.It's a brief glimmer of hope that fades after five seconds. Singing? What a weird touch...I don't think the direction was the problem. I think it was the writing. Karen Leigh Hopkins wrote some of the other movies that I love to hate: Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael and Stepmom are good examples. Jessie Nelson should be ashamed after delivering something golden like I am Sam. Who knows...??? Maybe Sean Penn and Dakota Fanning elevated that movie for me.Don't buy this. Don't rent this. Wait to see it on TBS. For all of the movies that lump a story with cooking, the least they could've given us was some cooking or baking hint that becomes all the rage. Ex. It's Complicated. That movie sucked, but at least we got the lavender honey ice cream.

It's not the talent or performance of the actors here in question, but the whole concept this movie is based on! It is yet another politically correct production in which feminism is yet again, and very much, in the viewer's face! The core principle of such school of thought is role-reversal under the disguise of gender equality. As in many other and recent motion pictures, female transgressions in a relationship are simply overlooked or forgiven, when the culprit appears to be offering a mere expression of remorse. The trouble is that the same doctrine doesn't let off male perpetrators that easily,at least not before rolling them through all levels of eternal damnation! It preaches this message to women: Not only there's nothing insane about wanting it all, but you can have it all! In real life, the only reason elderly women attract younger, handsome men is their purse or the fact that it's been a long dry season! But here, apparently the younger man is attracted to a senior citizen, whose skin wrinkles in layers! Just how unrealistic does it have to become before the penny drops?