Jack Nicholson’s new movie, “Something’s Gotta Give,” shows the comedic abilities of the usually dramatic actor. The movie, which also stars Diane Keaton and Amanda Peet, revels in the idea of how old you can be and still fall in love.
Nicholson plays an older man, who notoriously takes to dating women at least thirty years younger than he is. When he goes to a beach with his younger girlfriend (Amanda Peet), he meets her mother (Diane Keaton), before having a heart-attack-like episode, sending him to the hospital. His doctor, played by Keanu Reeves, tells him he must stay bed-ridden in the Hamptons and cannot return to Manhattan, where he normally resides.
Keaton takes charge of Nicholson’s health while he stays at her house, and Peet goes back to the city as an auctioneer. Nicholson, at first, cannot fathom the idea of being with an older woman. When he accidentally sees her naked, Nicholson shows his disgust in his impressive use of comedic facial expression. Keaton, a successful playwright of her generation, struggles with the fact that she is divorced and an older woman. Nicholson, with his success in many businesses and his infatuation with younger women, embodies everything she feels exploited by.
Soon, their close quarters force the two to learn things about each other that neither one thought could be possible. Keaton discovers that men are not all as bad as she thought when both Reeves (a fan of her work) and Nicholson start to show signs of interest. Eventually, it is up to her to decide who is the right one.
In this film, Nicholson shows his brilliant talent not only as an actor in a comedic film, but also as a physical comedian. In one scene, drugged up in the hospital, Nicholson shows bare bottom and bare talent as he saunters from one lady to the next in his inebriated state. Keaton plays her classic, neurotic character, where life must fit perfectly into a little box, as she has so many times before in movies like “The First Wives Club.” However, the chemistry between Nicholson, Keaton and the younger Peet is superb, making it seem believable and easily acceptable that a mother could fall for her daughter’s boyfriend.
The movie has its moments of sheer hilarity, and while our generation can appreciate this comedic genius, it is a film that seems for a generation older than us. The movie, while gripping for a while, starts to drag on toward the end, when characters start to move away from the beach, back to the city, and then back to the beach. The film, running a little over two hours, seems as though it goes for much longer.
While “Something’s Gotta Give” shows how versatile Jack Nicholson is and how well he can work with other actors, the length of the film and the content make it a movie that is better to rent than to spend the time and money to see in a theater.
Grade: B/C
