Because I Said So Mandy Moore White Dress
The chickiest flick I have ever seen in my life
Oh, my God, I swear I nearly killed myself while my friend and I were watching this movie. I'm not a chick flick girl and this movie is the reason why. Now I actually do love a few chick flicks that are fun, clever, and just harmless. This movie is extremely harmful to anyone who watches it, after watching this movie I felt like shoe shopping, listening to Sarah McLaughlin, bonding with my mother, moving my furniture, talking about boys, and baking cookies. This is the ultimate stereotype for women and makes us just look oh so bad. But it looked cute from the cover and I like Diane Keaton and Mandy Moore, so I wanted to give this movie a chance, but instead it just wasted my time and made me throw up a little in my mouth. I know that sounds bad since I'm a girl, but how in the heck was I supposed to like these characters? They were awful.
Daphne is a protective, manipulative, and pesky little mother who just loves her daughters more than most mothers should. She's especially obsessed with her baby daughter, Milly, who is having a hard time in the love department. Daphne takes out an ad on the internet as a mom looking for her daughter's life partner. She meets Jason, a promising guy who is stable, and a guy, Johnny, a musician with a psychotic son that she's convinced is a heart breaker. Milly meets them both looking "like chance" and she has to decide between stable, rich Jason or sensitive, loving Johnny. You can figure it out from here.
Seriously, these characters were horrible, just first off Daphne just comes off as a possessive and psychotic mom who needs a life so badly, because she's living it through her daughter's. Then Milly, she's dating and sleeping with these two guys at once and then when she gets busted, she's crying and we're supposed to feel bad for her? Why wasn't she just honest with the guys in the first place? The ending was horribly cliché'd as a chick flick film and was incredibly disturbing in some moments. This is an awful movie, I wouldn't recommend it unless you are the ultimate chick flick fan.
1/10
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sitcom-level romantic comedy
If you can swallow the beautiful and sexy Mandy Moore as an uncoordinated doofus with low self-esteem who can't find a decent guy to go out with her, then you may be able to get into the spirit of "Because I said So." However, you'll also have to put up with Diane Keaton in a truly grating performance as a neurotic control freak of a mother who spends most of her time obsessing over the romantic travails of her youngest daughter, going so far as to post an ad on an internet dating site seeking out prospective husbands for the unsuspecting girl.
The actions of this modern-day Yenta the Matchmaker set into motion a whole host of sitcom-level complications and romantic comedy hijinks that are somehow supposed to be funny but wind up being merely irritating. The screenplay by Karen Leigh Hopkins and Jessie Nelson comes replete with a bevy of mother/daughter relationship clichés, with some really lame slapstick routines - Keaton getting stuck on an internet porn site, Keaton getting run over by a skater in a park, Keaton getting a cake in her face etc. - thrown in for bad measure.
Beyond Keaton and Moore, Gabriel Macht, Tom Everett Scott and Lauren Graham are just some of the other unfortunate actors trapped inside this "chick flick" fiasco.
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A Bad Case of Static Cling
Greetings again from the darkness. It is now official. Diane Keaton has reached the parody of herself stage. She has become a caricature of her character. The loopy, over-the-top 60 yr old female who screams stereotype with each line. It was evident in "Something's Gotta Give" that she had made the turn, but "Because I Said So" time warps her into the level of folly ... similar to Leslie Nielsen (of "Naked Gun" fame) who once was also a respected actor. The difference being, Nielsen is at least funny, Keaton is purely grating and obnoxious. And enough with the turtle necks and ridiculous wardrobe. No one dresses like that ... especially in L.A.
Of course, there is more to this movie than Diane Keaton ... wait, no there really isn't. The only semblance of a bright spot is the glimpse of potential flashed by Mandy Moore. She really has screen charisma and no longer just looks like a big kid. She has 3 films over the next 18 months, so we will see just how she is progressing. Other than that, all we get is "Gilmore Girls" Lauren Graham as the wisest of Keaton's three daughters and Piper Perabo as one of the most nondescript characters of all time. I guess she was cast because she looked decent in underwear for the massage scene.
As for the poor guys in this one ... no not us schmucks who actually paid to watch, I am talking about the actors. Tom Everett Scott is totally miscast as a workaholic architect. Gabriel Macht ("A Love Song for Bobby Long") has little to do but flash his smile and twinkle his eyes. And Stephen Collins is evidently the new Tom Skerritt. You know, the cute older guy in all the chick flicks??? The director of this horrid mess is Michael Lehmann, who in the past has delivered such gems as "Hudson Hawk", "Airheads" and the torturous "40 Days and 40 Nights". When will Hollywood stop giving this guy money to make this worthless fluff? I am sure this weak, no-content film will make money ... simply because real life mothers and daughters will think they should go see it and laugh that someone's relationship is worse than theirs. I say, SAVE YOUR MONEY and rent "Terms of Endearment", which may be the best movie ever about a mother and daughter's struggles to show their love for each other. Just stay away from this one!
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I hated it
Diane Keaton wants her daughters to do things "Because I Said So" in this 2007 movie.
Keaton is a neurotic mother who is constantly poking her nose into her daughters' lives. She is desperate for her youngest (Mandy Moore) to find a man to spend the rest of her life with, so she puts an ad on a dating site and interviews potential men. Yeah, that certainly is a way to find a life partner for your daughter - advertise and then screen them for her.
One of the problems for me in this movie was Diane Keaton's performance. Here is an excellent, wonderful actress, capable of so much, playing the most annoying woman in history. If she were my mother, she'd have been dead long before her "big birthday" - 60. I don't know what the director was thinking having her go so over the top like that.
Not to mention, this film had Lifetime written all over it. How the producers got movie people to participate in this is to their credit, though it's done all the time - a TV script put on the big screen because someone with clout gets a movie star to agree to it. We saw it in "Before and After," "Six Days and Seven Nights," "What Lies Beneath," that movie with Hugh Jackman and Ashley Judd that I saw in the theater and blocked out of my mind - all TV fare turned into bad movies and starring big people.
I guess you can tell I didn't like it. I very rarely hate anything. If you've read some of my other reviews and find you agree with me on a lot of films, when you see this one is coming on TV, run; if you are tempted to put it on your Netflix list, don't do it.
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Oh My GOD - this was awful.
Warning: Spoilers
I LOVE Diane Keaton - Baby Boom is one of my favorite movies of all time. Something's Gotta Give is so great, I've seen it twice. That's what I thought I was plunking down my $10.50 for when I went to see this horror of a film.
I don't know who to blame more, the writers (Karen Leigh Hopkins & Jessie Nelson) or the director, Michael Lehmann. The actors are pretty blameless here in that they have proved themselves in other films and are basically following the vision of the director and saying the words of the writers. The script is repetitious and all over the place. Mom says the same thing over and over again in many scenes, as do the daughters.
I only laughed twice in the entire film. Which is crazy considering that I am usually a hyena at these movies. One laugh was at ONE of her physical comedy moves (which I usually love) and I can't even remember where the other laugh came from.
First of all, it is filled with illogic. People do and say things that make no sense. There is even a scene in which Mandy pushes Diane Keaton out her back door, which just happens to be wide open. Who leaves a back door WIDE OPEN? I can understand unlocked if you are in a ridiculously safe neighborhood - but, huh??? She takes so long to answer the door any self-respecting guy (or girl) would have gone home, cooked dinner for himself and eaten it during that time span.
I LOVE sex talk, I write about sex talk, my films are sexy, but what the hell was the deal with these women just bursting out in "orgasm chat" any old time? And with your damn mother? I don't think so. Even if she was hip. Which Diane Keaton was not supposed to be in this film.
And speaking of sex ... that's the kind of sex you see on AdultFriendFinders? People making out, professionally lit & shot?
Um, the dresses? Didn't they have a costume designer? We all know D has her own campy style, but someone should have stopped her. Those dresses just look plain bad on her. She's a great looking woman with a slim, fashion-friendly body and yet, she looked like a fool in those crinoline-crazed shirtwaists that spun out so wide she looked like a whirling dervish. She would have been better off in a tux.
And then she forces that ugly polka dot dress on her daughter. And, it turns out, the guy LOVES polka dots. What kinda guy loves polka dots? Is it a fetish or something?
The hyperactive kid is obnoxious as hell and there's the one scene where he tells the stupid bus driver joke to Diane, who listens very carefully and plays along as he tells the same joke over and over. Then, moments later, when the daughter arrives he yells out something like, "I like her. She's the only one who listens to my jokes!"
Oh, and the tasteless scene with the senior citizens in front of whom the musician boyfriend chooses to spout the obligatory "you complete me" speech. In the middle of it, one senior lady says "Can you hurry up, I have to go to the bathroom." Um, why doesn't she just go to the bathroom?
And the two senior ladies playing tonsil hockey was unfortunate and out of place. The gag comes out of left field and makes that whole thing seem totally gross, which is a disservice to all the older lesbian couples in the world. The audience just groaned. Not something you hope to hear in the middle of a love scene.
And this was really weird, at some point she picks up a photo of herself holding her daughter as a baby. That's the SAME PHOTO used so importantly in The Family Stone (another Keaton film that's REALLY good). What's up with that? Are they that cheap?
But the worse crime of all is the director Lehmann's handling of Keaton's performance. She is a wonderful dramatic and comedic actress, but this was like putting her into overdrive. It was like somebody doing an overdone impression of Diane Keaton in a satirical comedy sketch. It's a damn shame to take an actor's natural comedic talents and force her to imitate herself.
I felt similarly of Meg Ryan (who was amazing in Jane Campion's "In the Cut") in her last couple of films with Nora Ephron. These directors fall in love with these actor's eccentricities (as we all do) and instead of letting them just happen, which makes it so charming, they direct the actors into doing these charming things, bigger and bigger, more and more until they lose their charm completely.
Diane, please go back to Nancy Meyers who wrote and directed Baby Boom & Something's Gotta Give. She's got your number and the comedic chops to pull it all off.
Do yourself a favor, don't go see this movie. Why? Because I said so.
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Like reading "Cosmo"
"Because I Said So" is one of those types of movies. Yes, one of THOSE types. They keep being made because it seems that the genre of woman-centered dramedies that often blend into one another make for great date movies. Supposedly. Or at least because they continue to say so in all the woman's magazines at the grocery store check-out line.
This one stars Diane Keaton, who has been in one too many of these over the years, Lauren Graham, who has seen better writing on her series "Gilmore Girls", Piper Perabo, whose career tends to float under the radar, and Mandy Moore, whose range is limited but whose charm seems endless. The latter three star as sisters with a ridiculously over-involved mother (Keaton), who go through ups and downs, weddings, and such, while mom pokes her nose too deeply into Moore's love life. It sometimes feels like the confession section of "Cosmo" magazine crossed with the advice column. The answer (read, the ending) is visible from the get-go, and getting there leads to frequent rolling of one's eyes.
This is silly, light and fluffy comedy with little on its mind but the predictable happy ending. It's an okay way to pass the time, but expect to feel guilty in the morning.
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I don't care if you said so or not; this movie is horrible!
Warning: Spoilers
I went to this movie thinking "Hey, what the heck, Diane Keaton and a couple hotties, plus my girlfriend wanted to see a romantic comedy" Well I'll tell you, it was a comedy, but for the wrong reasons. But, not even the biggest bleeding heart drama-head case would be able to scrape the tiniest ounce of romance out of this movie.
The premise of the movie is really promising; seriously I could see an actual good romantic comedy made about an overbearing mother who can't let go of her children...nothing wrong with that. Well there is something wrong with this movie and its definitely the poor acting performances and an even worse script.
Diane Keaton gives one of her weakest performances to date. Mandy Moore is cute yet vapid. Lauren Graham is...well like she was just going through the rhythms but not trying to much; I don't watch Gilmour Girls so maybe she's always like that? Piper Perabo...maybe she was good, but her character was little more than an afterthought and has maybe 5 lines the entire movie. Surprisingly there are some decent performances, yet they come from the secondary and tertiary male characters; with Gabriel Macht delivering the strongest one.
This movie is complete cheese, only see it if its free or you hate yourself.
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Hysterically bad.
Warning: Spoilers
I got dragged in seeing this movie and knew it was going to be bad, but no where did I expect it to be THIS bad. You have the typical, over-dramatic and over-bearing mother, who's part might have been semi-humorous if it wasn't overdone. Anyway, there was a huge monologue where the mother was just ranting about how hard it is being a single mother, blah blah blah, with 3 kids...and I guess it was supposed to be a serious scene for the movie, but I literally started laughing hysterically with tears in my eyes. It was just sooo tacky and corny that this movie is hard to take seriously at all. And Mandy Moore, she gets these two guys attracted to her for God knows what reason...She's a one-dimensional character with no depth to her personality and it really makes you wonder why these guys have a thing for her. Anyway, she gets caught seeing both of them...expected cliché...she chooses the struggling musician over the successful architect...blah blah. Same ol' same ol'. Definitely an original storyline there.
Also, if they could have had one more scene with them trying to find the cell phone in her crowded purse or in the oven, or wherever...it might have been funny! K...maybe not.
Anyhow, I'd give this a 0 if it was an option.
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If Gitmo Detainees Have Been Forced To Watch This, Shut The Base Down Now
Warning: Spoilers
What makes a truly awful movie awful? 1) Does it fail to meet the standards of the genre? Well, by definition a romantic comedy should feature romance and comedy; This movie was spectacularly unfunny. CHECK! 2) Does it resort to cliché? The cinematic cliché of the '90's was the "conversation while urinating"; in this decade, we have the "dog humping something". In my theater, people actually laughed at this, which explains in part how the average rating on this site is over five. Anyway, BISS had a horny dog scene, so CHECK! 3) Does it pander to and insult the audience? Absolutely. From the juvenile dialog to the eccentric secondary characters to the ridiculous musical numbers to the total absence of sophistication, a huge red CHECK! My advice: if you genuinely found this garbage entertaining, go directly to Netflix or your nearest video store and rent Annie Hall, The Baxter, or When Harry Met Sally. Watch how a romantic comedy is supposed to be done and you'll see just how asinine Because I Said So is.
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The awful writing outweighs some moments of brilliant acting
I love Diane Keaton, but this was mostly painful. I can only point a finger at the writing because as predictable as this movie is, there are some absolute gems of BRILLIANT acting from both Keaton and Moore. I'm not sure why anyone is in this movie other than Mandy Moore and Diane Keaton because no use is made of them. I sat for the first half hour wondering what any of these actors saw in the script, but I will admit to laughing out loud several times at the painful "family" moments I think people will recognize from their own lives. Diane Keaton deserves a better script for her talents. And when TV actors are trying to transition to film, they should raise the level of their work.
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Boring, boring boring
Warning: Spoilers
I can't write a spoiler because there is nothing to spoil. I would rather sit through teen slasher movies, the acting and dialog would be more interesting. Diane Keaton used to be a very good actress, but I guess she was just trying to get her bills paid. This was a total waste of someones money and time to produce. Twenty minutes into this awful, boring, and predictable movie and I was ready to get up and leave. I have been to bad movies, but this was about as bad as it gets. I am supposed to be writing 10 lines of text but there is not much more that I can say to warn you not to spend your hard earned money on such drivel.
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Words fail me.
It's a waste of my time to write a review of this, and it's a waste of your time to read it. But IMDb requires 10 lines. Which is about 9 more than needed.
Characters: poorly written, and acted in the most grating, unlikable and unbelievable manner possible.
Relationships: completely unrealistic.
Dialogue: horrid.
Plot: Well, in one case the mother character gets (unexplained) laryngitis, which is the only time that the other characters get to speak more than two words around her without interruption. Yes, it's that bad.
This movie should have ended careers. Writers, producers, actors, studio execs, everyone.
Is that enough? Sorry for wasting your time.
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It's just fun :)
I don't want to lie to you, I'm not a Diane Keaton fan, nor am I a Mandy Moore fan. Besides asking yourself why I even saw this movie, you should wonder how it managed to get a 9 from me despite my tastes.
Well, I went because my friends wanted to see it. And I gave it a 9 because I thought it was surprisingly good. It's not intense, it's not fast-paced, it's not a mind-bender. It's just a fun thing to watch. Diane Keaton is energetic and so much fun - and I promise you that by the end of the movie, she'll have (in some way or another) reminded you of your own mother. And Mandy Moore is very good as the quirky daughter who is, in reality, very much like her mother. It's just a sweet tale - most likely for women only - that reminds girls and their mothers that they're not alone in the battles. (Though viewers be warned - there's a little sexual content. And a little more conversation about sexual content...)
There's nothing terribly unique about it, but the writing is good and the plot is entertaining. There aren't going to be any surprises, it's just entertaining, lively, and very sweet.
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Idiotic and Grotesque
"Because I Said So" is idiotic and grotesque.
Do. Not. Waste. Your. Time.
The attempts at humor are from a teenage gross out flick: an unattractive man whines about having snot stuck in his nose; Diane Keaton carries heavy, elaborate cakes while wearing four inch spike heels; Diane Keaton drives on a highway with her head under the dashboard; Diane Keaton simulates arousal while watching an x rated internet site; a dog humps a piece of furniture; Korean women make rude comments while massaging American women; women's underwear are compared.
The sets and costumes are from a never-never "romantic comedy" land: a family of young, attractive women and a series of elaborate wedding cakes.
The plot is idiotic; if you've seen the trailer, you know the plot. Diane Keaton, a mother, interferes in her daughter's love life so much that they fix her up with a man.
The dialogue is flat and could not be less interesting.
Women are incompetent: a young woman, Mandy Moore, wears a bright red, lacy slip under a green dress. The slip is too long; its lacy red hem screams out from under the green dress. *While she is crossing a busy street*, Moore tugs at, and eventually removes, the bright red slip.
Do you know a woman that incompetent? She's an adult, doesn't know how to dress, and doesn't know not to strip in the middle of a busy street? I don't.
Amazingly, a man watches this performance and falls madly in love.
See what I mean? Grotesque.
Diane Keaton's performance consists of her waving her splay fingered hands about, distending her nostrils, and wearing a thick black leather belt with a large buckle.
Oh, yes, and she's so dumb, every time she, a professional caterer, has to transport a unique, elaborate cake, she dons four inch spike heels and tries to walk through skate boarders.
Luckily I was not wearing spike heels. I walked out. I hope you don't walk in.
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Predictable, clichéd, unfunny and just plain stupid.
Warning: Spoilers
For some odd reason, this movie is listed under the "comedy" genre. I find that strange because no one in the theater was laughing. It was more along the lines of offensive because it seemed as though the writers of this movie were having a field day insulting the audience's intelligence.
Take the scene when Diane Keaton's obnoxious character visits AdultFriendFinder, for example. A pornographic video appears on her screen and instead of being rational and closing the window like everyone else would have thought to do, she covers the screen with a blanket and calls the software hotline. Embarrassed to speak to the operator because of the sex noises blaring from her speakers, she raises her voice in a failed attempt to drown out the sounds. The dog, whose only purpose in the entire film is to execute this clichéd scene, pulls the blanket off of the computer and begins to feverishly hump an ottoman (because, of course, human sex is a turn-on for dogs).
Another mentionable scene: Diane Keaton's character is interviewing a laundry list of clichéd rejects in hopes of finding her daughter's true love. These rejects happen to be completely oblivious of their unattractive behavior. You have the geeky nerd with the permanent head cold who is unaware of his disgusting snot problem. Then there's the fat guy. Oh, and let's not forget the Indian guy.
Sadly, that isn't the end of it.
It's so embarrassing. Not for the characters, but for the viewers. Definitely a movie to see, but only if you're getting paid for it because that's the only way you'd ever get me to watch it again.
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An hour and a half I can never get back
Warning: Spoilers
This film was atrocious. It's sad, as these are all competent actors. Mandy Moore might be the only saving grace, as she does play an endearing young woman, unlucky in love. That aside, Diane Keaton irritated me from her very first line, and it only got worse from there. The dialogue was trite, the relationships between the characters awkward to say the least, and the each scene played to only the romantic morons. If you're an intelligent human being, don't see this film. It's laughable. Literally. I found myself chuckling at the "serious" moments. Oh, I'm so sad. 9.25 down the drain and only Diane Keaton's annoying voice ringing in my ear for hours afterward to show for it.
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Entertaining romantic comedy, nothing special
At a pre-screening and Q&A with Director Michael Lehmann and writer Karen Leigh Hopkins hosted by critic Leonard Maltin, the soon to be released film opened with mixed reactions before the 365 member audience of USC film students. The narrative gets off to a slow start with on opening sequence that fails to arouse much interest or laughter. Only until a joke is shared between Millie (Moore) and her mother (Keaton) about a man's uncircumcised entity does the audience begin laughing. This is fairly representative of the movie's humor. It is consistently funny, but only through cheap and superficial jokes and scenarios. At times it even verges on slapstick. However, credit must be given to both Moore and Keaton who put out stellar performances. Moore proves her ability to be an actress following initial debut in Saved and will hopefully be able to move past her image as teenie-bopper musician. Keaton convincingly portrays an over the top single mother who cannot keep her nose out of her daughters' business. The film will have wide appeal for female audiences as it is about the mother-daughter relationship. But men will also find humor throughout and should not be discouraged to accompany their wives and girlfriends. (Note: Guys, this is a good chance to compromise on seeing a romantic comedy that will not bore or disgust.) The film sticks to genre conventions but the comedy aspect of the film veers from typical. The set design and editing are both noteworthy. The film will provide a fun evening for couples, old and young, at the theater and home.
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There is very little good about this movie
To each his own, I always say, but my own = this movie was dreadful. Now I have nothing against "chick flicks" and I have nothing against formulaic films, of which this was both, because there's a place for everything & a way to be creative within the genre. I say "very little good" because I can find good things to say: Diane Keaton and Mandy Moore, and heck, everyone else in the cast, are stunning to look at. The architecture, furniture and food of the houses you'll see are GORGEOUS. Beyond that? Oh my God, where to start?
The writing was awful; I get the feeling it could've been better if it hadn't been chop-edited to death. The "look what a wacky family we are!" forced hilarity was paaaiiinful to watch. PAINFUL. OVER AND OVER AGAIN. OH MY GOD. Diane Keaton's character was far too over the top (and contrary to what people have said, no, she does not remind me of my mother or any mother I know. Plus, her costume designer ought to be, ahem, washed up & hung out to dry. Put DOWN those belts and walk away slowly.) There were a couple of scenes that busted out with surprising dialogue or revelations--a couple. The rest of it was just ... let's put it this way, I haven't written a review on IMDb for years, and I felt compelled to do so now.
I'm just glad I didn't pay for the movie, but I apologized to my friend, who had treated me, for wasting her money.
The only other redemptive thing about this movie is that by watching it, I now feel more confident than ever that *I* can get something made in Hollywood.
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Diane Keaton is the definition of a meddling mother
Keaton plays Daphne the mother of 3 girls. Her 2 oldest are married and she is so concerned about the youngest, Milly getting hitched. First of all Milly is in her early to mid 20s and Daphne is acting like she is an old maid. Milly dates but just hasn't found the right one, but her mother is so controlling she thinks she has to find a guy for her. So, she lists an ad on the internet. 2 guys start dating Milly whom met with Daphne. And what is gross is that Milly dates both guys but doesn't tell either one and gets very close with both. Talk about breaking hearts. It seems a little slutty for someone who is portrayed as sweet and successful. But what is worse is her mom is encouraging it.
There is just a lot of things that are not appropriate going on. What about in the beginning when the mom and sisters are waiting on Milly and call her to find out she is getting it on with some guy. That is not cute, that is sleazy. Plus at the end, the mom does the same thing.
Overall, it just wasn't a very good movie. Poor plot with characters you don't like.
FINAL VERDICT: Keaton is like nails on a chalkboard. And Moore is a 2 timing two nice guys. Why would you want it to work out for Milly when she is deceiving 2 nice guys. Simply, a waste.
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Pfft, because I said so.
Warning: Spoilers
I like the guy, the love interest, I like Mandy Moore. I usually like Diane Keaton, and she had some great clothing in this film. But, this is the most horrific waste of their talents.
When the movie started, I was happy with the pace and the closeness of the sisters and the mother… even though it bordered on the line of creepy, but they kept it kosher.
I was even fine with all the weirdness of the mother setting up dates for her daughter. Then soon it got illogical and annoying. Mandy Moore's character was charming at first but them just silly… to the point of stupid. And Diane Keaton has random scenes that did the impossible: make her into a stereotype of an overbearing mother who is pushy and annoying.
HOW THE DO YOU MAKE DIANE KEATON ANNOYING?!?!?! I really don't understand that. The person(s) who directed/wrote/produce has the talent to make actors that I once liked, annoying. You know, this movie had potential to head somewhere alright and semi-entertaining, but it was a massive fail.
DEAR GOD, the nagginess of the mother is summed up in the movie poster, pfft, because I said so.
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A mean spirited comedy filled with vile characters
Daphne Wilder (Diane Keaton) has done fine with her older two daughters (Lauren Graham, Piper Perabo) but when it comes to her youngest, the klutzy Milly (Mandy Moore), she feels she has to get more directly involved with finding her a man. Although she has her sights set on Jason (Tom Everett Scott), a successful architect, Milly herself seems more interested in musician Johnny (Gabriel Macht), who just so happens to have a single father who is interested in Daphne.
Because I Said So is an appalling comedy that completely wastes a fine cast with lame material. I didn't have high expectations to begin with yet I wasn't prepared for something this bad. First of all, the screenplay was simply atrocious, one of the worst of the year so far. The dialog was ridiculous and bland as was the majority of the characters and story. The characters were mostly all vile people and not one of them resembled an actual person that you have a chance of meeting. The horrible things Daphne did to her daughter just went over the line many times to the point that it wasn't even funny and Mandy Moore was pretty unlikable herself so it was pretty hard to care about these people.
When the film wasn't offending my intelligence, it was just boring to watch. The actors were all good looking so there is plenty of eye candy but it's all so bland and forgettable. There was no development for some of the supporting characters and Mandy Moore wasn't engaging enough to lead the movie.
The acting was shockingly bad although anybody would have problems working with this material. Diane Keaton was just depressing to watch. She was way over the top and so annoying. I hated watching her do this and I firmly believe that she only made this movie for the money. Mandy Moore was pretty entertaining in "American Dreamz" but here she was just wooden, fake and not very interesting. I love Lauren Graham and she gave the best performance by far but she should choose better scripts. Piper Perabo was practically invisible and given nothing to do. Stephen Collins and Tom Everett Scott were both pretty creepy and I don't know how to explain it. Gabriel Macht was okay, pretty forgettable . Overall, I recommend not checking out this film. It was a waste of time and it wasn't very funny, just mean spirited and tedious. Rating 3/10
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Just simply bad
I normally don't write reviews, but this movie was so bad I had to make it my mission. Unless you have some free time you don't care about wasting, please flip the channel. I'm currently recovering from a concussion so all I am able to do at the moment is watch movies. Watching this movie is more like trying to relive the rage you had with your own mother growing up. Acting is bad, cast is bad, script is bad, wardrobe is bad everything Is bad! I am really surprised that this horrendous movie only received one razzie award baffles me. Diane Keaton alone deserves a cpl of those. I don't understand the roles of the other two sisters as they bring absolutely nothing to the table.
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Because it's not THAT bad ...
The bad thing about this movie is that it's nothing the audience hasn't seen before. Lots of directors choose a generic montage of old-fashioned family pictures set to a mellow thematically-charged song for the opening credits. Lots of romantic comedies include generous dosages of overbearing parents, predictable twists-and-turns, and decor that looks like it came out of the Ikia catalog.
Nonetheless, 'Because I Said So' is, for lack of a better word, cute. It's predictable in a way that one expects the characters in slasher movies to die, corny in a way that only overbearing mothers meddling in the affairs of their offspring can be. And yet, isn't that the reason this genre continues to be popular, BECAUSE of the comfort of knowing what's going to happen rather than in spite of it? Nobody went to see "Bridget Jones' Diary" expecting her NOT to end up with somebody, after all.
Predictability aside, the music was fitting, the scenery was attractive - one wonders if somebody on the set was a gifted cake decorator before the film's inception, or even because of it - and the main/supporting cast were all passable-to-energized. Diane Keaton in all of her poof skirts and unnecessarily large heels, is just enough playful and neurotic to make the role work - I particularly enjoyed her speech about motherhood being the most difficult form of love. I've enjoyed Mandy Moore's rise to indie film infamy since "Saved!", more than I did her semi-generic pop starlet days, and I thought she did a nice job here. And though this is largely considered a "chick flick", I do want to point out that any boyfriends, brothers, husbands, etc. who get roped into seeing it may well enjoy the antics of Keaton's character's dog, who provides slap-sticky yet appreciated comic relief.
All in all, it's not something I'd probably buy on DVD, but as a fun and easy way to spend two hours, 'Because I Said So' is worth wading through the clichés.
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Inconsequential Misfire Has an Over-the-Top Keaton Dominating an Underused Cast
When I watched Diane Keaton on Charlie Rose after 2005's The Family Stone was released, I was struck by what a laser-sharp, perceptive and funny non-conformist she continues to be when she is challenged to reveal herself. What an utter comedown to see this superb actress play such a dithering, overbearing and one-track character in this dismal 2007 misfire. Ostensibly a comedy with dramatic moments, this is exactly the type of unoriginal studio-manufactured product that gets released in the post-holiday box-office wasteland. Limply directed in handbook style by Michael Lehmann (who made the sharp black comedy, Heathers, and the infamous turkey, Hudson Hawk), there is barely a scene that rings true thanks primarily to the manipulative, formulaic screenplay by Karen Leigh Hopkins and Jessie Nelson. That this movie was ever green-lighted is the biggest wonder about the film.
The paper-thin plot has Keaton portray Daphne Wilder, the single mother of three grown daughters. About to turn sixty, she has already married off her two oldest, level-headed Maggie and sex-crazed Mae, and her overprotective nature will not allow her to rest until her youngest, Milly, is married. Daphne goes to the extreme of posting an online personal ad in order to interview potential suitors and finds two prospects - passively manipulative architect Jason and deceptively casual rock musician Johnny. Daphne's blueprint for a perfect husband is Jason, but Johnny figures out how to meet Milly on his own. Milly dates both men unbeknownst to each other. The standard complications ensue, not the least of which is how Daphne's long dormant libido is awakened by Johnny's easy-going dad Joe. The rest of the cast is serviceable at best and ill-used at worst. Mandy Moore is an appealing presence as the clumsy, endearing Milly, although she is overloaded with enough cutesy idiosyncrasies to make Keaton's own Annie Hall look relatively unaffected.
As Jason, Tom Everett Scott seems to play the same role over and over, the superficial yuppie who does not fare well upon closer inspection. By contrast, Gabriel Macht conveys the necessary sincerity to make the overly sensitive Johnny the more desirable prospect. As Maggie, Lauren Graham (Gilmore Girls) has at least one running gag as the psychiatrist to a hopeless nebbish (expertly played by Tony Hale of Arrested Development) to take advantage of her comic talent, but Piper Perabo (Imagine Me & You) is little more than a glorified extra as Mae. Stephen Collins plays the too-convenient-to-be-true Joe as if he walked off the set of 7th Heaven. When the movie is not dealing with Milly's eroding self-confidence, sitcom-level laughs seem to be the only aspiration that the sputtering script has. Saddest of all is Keaton who is encouraged to exaggerate all her mannerisms into a morass of fluttery excess, most conspicuously in an embarrassing meltdown scene that has her character lose her voice. The 2007 DVD is sparse on extras - a seven-minute making-of featurette, a five-minute short spotlighting the production design and food preparation, an unrelated iVillage ad and a music video of "World Spins Madly On" by the Weepies.
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Because I Said Don't Watch It!
Michael Lehmann's 'Because I Said So' is a half-baked contrived clichéd romantic comedy wannabe. It focuses on the relationship between a mother (Diane Keaton) and a daughter (Mandy Moore) and how the mother influences her daughter to choose between two guys. Diane Keaton's Daphne Wilder is a caricature. She delivers lines that are textbook formula and pretty much acts out all the clichés of an eccentric manipulative mother. Why on earth did she agree to do such a film? Mandy Moore is surprisingly alright. Tom Everett Scott is miscast and Gabriel Macht too suffers from bad writing and is limited to smiling and crying. Lauren Graham is in 'Gilmore Girl's' Lorelai mode except that here she's a psychologist. I did enjoy her scene with Tony Hale and she does look bewitching. Piper Perabo has no role that can be described in words except that Lehmann probably cast her to show off her body in a bikini. 'Because I Said So' has nothing new to offer and no substance. It does look polished and the sets are quite nice but why waste an hour and a half on that?
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