In the Back Row

with Allison McKinley © 2004

Film: Something's Gotta Give (official site)
Columbia Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures
Columbia/Tristar (DVD)

Allison's review in ten words or fewer: Slightly skewed look at May/December, December/May Romances -- B+

Awards: Best Actress in a leading role: Diane Keaton (nominated by the Academy, won Golden Globe, National Board of Review, Golden Satellite Award)
Rating (USA): PG-13 Budget: $80,000,000
Gross to Date: $265,191,000 (Rank 185th)
Starring: Diane Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Keanu Reeves, Frances McDormand, Amanda Peet
DVD Release: 18 March 2004
DVD Features:

• Audio Commentaries by Director, Nicholson, Keaton
• Tour of Hampton's Set with Amanda Peet
• Deleted Scenes

A little ditty about Jack and Diane.

When I first heard the title Something's Gotta Give, I immediately thought of the film As Good As it Gets; perhaps because both titles are well-known figures of speech, or perhaps because Jack Nicholson stars in both.

There is actually another similarity between the two films; in both, Jack Nicholson cries over lost love. In As Good As it Gets, when Jack Nicholson's heart is broken, he sobs and says that it's "...over a damned dog", as he has fallen for his neighbour's little mutt. In Something's Gotta Give, when he finally finds that he has a heart (he knows because it is breaking, reminiscent of the Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz), he says through his tears, "Who 'da thought I'd be the girl?" And because you can feel his heart breaking, you hate to laugh; but the situation is sardonic, so you must laugh.

Jack Nicholson first gained critical acclaim for his role of George Hanson in Easy Rider (nominated by the Academy for best actor in a supporting role). In the eleven years before that, his film career consisted of 16 films (five for the B-movie king Roger Corman) and could be described as tepid at best. After Easy Rider, he appeared in one more dreadful film (probably already in production when Easy Rider opened), and then his career left the launch pad, with such films as Carnal Knowledge, Five Easy Pieces and Chinatown (another nomination for best actor).

Jack Nicholson has been nominated for more Academy Awards than any other actor in history. In the films for which he won best actor, the female leads also won for best actress: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Terms of Endearment, and As Good As it Gets. He is an avid fan of the Los Angeles Lakers and never misses a home game, so when he signs on to act in a film, the dates of the Lakers' games are included in a rider to his contract.

Diane Keaton, a native Californian, did not start out at the bottom. She made one short, but never appeared in a B movie. She is one of those whose charmed life started at the top and moved up from there. Having studied drama at Santa Ana College, she moved to New York where she joined a theatre ensemble and shortly thereafter gained the part of understudy to the lead in the rock musical Hair. In 1970, Woody Allen cast her as the lead in his play "Play It Again Sam". She then appeared in that short film along with Woody Allen, followed by The Godfather, then in Woody Allen's film version of Play It Again Sam. She went on to star in five more of Allen's megahits: Sleeper, Love and Death, my personal Allen favourite Annie Hall, Interiors, and Manhattan.

Oddly enough, while her career began with Hair, the rock spectacle that had the actors dancing naked in the audience, it is in Something's Gotta Give where Diane Keaton first appears nude.

The film goes something like this: Marin, played by Amanda Peet, drives out to the family's summer house in the Hamptons with her 'boyfriend' Harry Sanborn (Nicholson). Marin is 30-something, Harry is 60-something. She's an auctioneer for Christie's, he's a hip-hop record producer. They plan to use this weekend out of the city to consummate their relationship.

As fate would dictate, Marin's mom, Erica (Keaton), also plans to use the summer house to work on her latest play, and she shows up with her sister Zoe (played by Frances McDormand).

Before any real sparks fly, Harry has a mild heart attack. His doctor, Julian Mercer (Keanu Reeves), tells Harry he can only leave the hospital if he promises to stay someplace local where the hospital can chart his progress for a week or so. Marin has to go back to her job in New York, thus leaving Erica and Harry to spend the week together.

While Harry is not in the least interested in Erica, Dr. Mercer is quite smitten with her. The fact that he is 30-something and she is 50-something matters little to him, as he is an avid fan of her plays and finds her very attractive. He invites her to dinner and over wine tells how charming and beautiful she is.

Harry, to his own amazement, finds that he quite likes Erica. They share walks together; she cooks him dinner; they talk. When Marin returns the following weekend, she feels an electricity between the two that wasn't there before.

This is a well-written film that takes a realistic look at inter-generational relationships, and writer/director Nancy Meyers (Father of the Bride, I Love Trouble) abstains from judgment. I found it refreshing that she shows both sides of the story; while Harry is chasing Erica's daughter Marin, the ever handsome and charming Keanu Reeves as Dr. Mercer tries to woo Erica and win her hand in marriage. In the end, of course, water finds its own level.

While the talents of Frances McDormand are greatly underused, all in all this is a very pleasant and charming film; a must-see for Nicholson and Keaton fans.