As a 20-year-old male with no sisters, I realize I am not the target audience for "Because I Said So," but this did little to hinder my enjoyment of the picture. If anything, the fact that I had no real emotional connection to the material meant I was able to appreciate the movie on a different level than most of the people who will end up being in the audience.
Michael Lehmann's tale of mother-daughter (un)bonding is clearly meant to serve as counter programming during Super Bowl weekend, but I cannot help but feel like the movie will hold limited appeal to mothers and daughters for all the same reasons war veterans do not feel particularly comfortable watching a cinematic recreation of the night their battalion got slaughtered. I imagine there will be more than a little tension in the air during silent car rides home after some wayward mother-daughter team stumbles into this movie expecting anything other than a moderately bitter pill.
Again, because I am not in the position to have any traumatic flashbacks of my mother ruining my first date, I enjoyed the movie. Jessie Nelson ("I Am Sam") and Karen Leigh Hopkins ("Stepmom") cobble together a serviceable script that puts director Lehmann ("Heathers") in the enviable position of being able to simply turn his camera on his cast and let them carry the action. For the most part, the formula works.
Oh, and what a cast it is. At the center of everything is Diane Keaton, who plays Daphne, the single mother of three seemingly well-adjusted women: Milly (Mandy Moore), Maggie (Lauren Graham) and Mae (Piper Perabo). This of course does little to stop Daphne from meddling with the lives of her now-grown brood, taking special interest in fixing what she sees as Milly's lack of romantic options.
On a whim, Daphne signs Milly up for an online dating service, which would qualify as an incredibly poor choice, except for the fact that it turns up Jason, an urbane and successful architect who is played well by Tom Everett Scott in what is essentially a thankless role. Needless to say, Daphne thinks Jason is perfect, but Milly's attentions are focused more on Johnny (Gabriel Macht — who was great in support in "The Good Shepherd"), a tattooed musician who the studio press notes helpfully describe as "soulful." Johnny also has a father who keeps hanging around, a charming (and single) middle-aged guy named Joe. Since Joe is played by Stephen Collins, and Stephen Collins has managed to land more women than any other character actor in recent history, it goes without saying that Joe and Daphne may be headed for a happy ending of their own.
Even when Lehmann pushes the slapstick elements a bit too far, the performances keep the movie afloat. (As far as I can see, the only reason to make Daphne a baker was to provide the opportunity to show Keaton covered with flour on more than one occasion). Keaton is the anchor, and while some have complained that she has played the role of fidgety matriarch a bit too often of late, she brings a kind of unhinged, manic energy to the role that is impossible to ignore. The scene where she tries to quiet her children down to take a photo while wondering aloud "Why do we have to say 'cheese?'" is a piece of vintage-Keaton business that is nearly worth the price of admission.
Moore has the less showy role, but she turns in another in a line of solid performances. As the other sisters, Graham and Perabo are largely pushed to the side, but both can deliver when called upon. Collins and Macht also do well with underwritten roles — especially Macht. Tech credits are superb.
Look, "Because I Said So" isn't great. But it had a kind of prickly charm that grew on me. Lehmann and his screenwriters seem determined to make the movie fit within the traditional sitcom parameters, but the actors won't play along. The by-play between the actors is rich and sharp, even as the movie itself struggles to rise to the top. Very quietly, the entire cast manages to save "Because I Said So" from the people who created it.
Grade: 3 out of 5
