Harry Langer (Jack Nicholson, coasting big time) is a rich, 63-year-old bachelor
who loves the company of younger women. When one of his latest paramours (Amanda
Peet) takes him to her mother's beach house for a weekend of sex, Harry has a
mild heart attack, leaving him in the care of the mother, successful playwright
Erica Barry (Diane Keaton). Harry and Erica do not see eye to eye on
relationships, but in Erica's company, Harry begins to see the appeal of women
his own age. At the same time, Harry's 36-year-old doctor (Keanu Reeves,
charming in a way "The Matrix" films wouldn't allow) makes a play for Erica,
while Harry attempts to seduce her with his own fading charms. Erica, caught in
the middle, is aghast at all the attention placed on her. But once she accepts
her situation, she opens up an emotional reservoir that affects her more
deeply than anything has in years.
Three cheers all around for writer/director Nancy Meyers for attempting to buck
the system and maker her object of desire a 57-year-old woman. You
just don't see that enough these days, making "Something's Gotta Give" (IMDb listing) a
noteworthy film for its graceful handling of sexuality and maturity. It's a
shame that's all Meyers handles with grace. "Gotta" is a film so ripe
with possibilities that its juices flow from the very first bite, but once you
eat down to the core, you discover the fruit has been rotten all along.
Maybe it's because Meyers is so proud of her screenwriting accomplishment that
her film eventually fails. She certainly pats herself on the back enough with
Erica being a character not only desired by everyone, but also the most
successful, intelligent, and carefully lit in any room she enters. Meyers has a
fondness for writing strong female characters ("Baby Boom," "Private Benjamin"),
but often, these creations defy reality with their obscenely lavish lifestyles
and absence of genuine moral quandaries. Erica is yet another upper-class
Hampton creation from Meyer, leaving sympathy for her romantic exploits
threadbare at the very least. For whatever reason, Meyers always writes her
characters very rich and very New Yorkian, with "Gotta" showing serious signs of
this formula in its final stages of life. The core idea of Erica's battle with
herself and the two men after her is a wonderful, welcome change of pace. After
years of seeing older male actors paired up with young female co-stars, this
story needs to be told. Meyers is just not a filmmaker suited for filming her
own script. After all, this is the same woman who decided that peaking her last
comedy, "What Women Want," with an attempted suicide scene would be a good idea.
It wasn't. And on "Gotta," she believes comedy comes from cutting to Nicholson's
naked ass three times in one scene. It doesn't. Hey, I thought this was a film
for adults?
"Gotta" gives Diane Keaton her best role in years, possibly decades, and she
takes the opportunity to develop a rich connection with the camera and her
co-stars. Erica isn't the most complex creature, but Keaton is
willing to shed some vanity (there is a nude scene) in return for being the
center of attention. Keaton's acting is as good as it's ever been, especially
when you can clearly see Meyer's screenwriting holding Keaton back from a more
deft realization of Erica. The wrinkle in the fabric is co-star Jack Nicholson.
Keaton and Nicholson are wonderful performers on their own, but paired up in the
film, they lack the chemistry that should be integral to the picture. Watch a
scene such as Erica and Harry strolling down a beach, improvisationally chatting
away, and the film stops cold. "Gotta" hinges on the fact that these two
characters are meant to be together, but the actors just can't quite sell the
notion themselves. Jack acts like "Jack," in full eyebrow mode, but he can't
muster the warmth and desire with Keaton like he can with himself. And Keaton
has much better chemistry with co-star Keanu Reeves than she does with
Nicholson. "Gotta" loses its structure about 45 minutes in. It then becomes a
kind of theatrical, one-act play examining the romance growing between Erica and
Harry. Without the sparks, "Gotta" begins to show its labored mechanics and
formulaic screenwriting towards the end, at the very point the audience should
be chomping at the bit for these two to realize their destiny.
It may be a long-time-coming turn of the tables against typical Hollywood
romantic relationships, but "Something's Gotta Give" loses all sense of reality
by the time the climax pokes its head up. Meyers is a slave to convention, which
is the only explanation why the final events in the film play out as
they do. "Gotta" is perfect for Diane Keaton purists and those who don't see
many romantic comedies. But as a truly challenging, warm,
hilarious confection? It's a bicycle built for two with only one wheel.
Filmfodder Grade: C
