Rating: 
Summary: OLDER WOMAN YOUNGER MAN OLDER MAN YOUNGER WOMAN...
Review: Diane Keaton (Erica) in the half-baked" (as The New York Metero defined this film and I concur) "Something's Gotta Give" was a disappointment. Keaton once again played the career driven, successful divorcee wearing the same up tight clothing moving dangerously from turtlenecks to a modest V neck style change of wardrobe. I guess this was to portray a 1950's...2003 version of "keep one foot on the floor" love scene. The infamous wailing scene in which Erica feels she has opened her heart to Jack knowing he has never committed to a single woman in his entire life (she must of thought she could change him even after knowing he was a playboy who had been panting after her 20 something year old daughter) flounders around on her bed feeling rejected ..why because Jack didn't say he loved her after knowing her for a full week and jumping into the sack for one entire night? This sobbing scene; however, channels Erica's emotions into the completion (ah bitter sweet) of her up and coming, taken for granted, successful screenplay.. this scene had to be an embarrassment to women everywhere to watch. Keaton can certainly wail and if they gave an award for wailing, she definitely would win hands down. The love scenes were lacking in emotion even between Erica's young 30 something doctor played by Keanu Reeves. Amander Peet (Erica's daughter, Marin) easily passes old Jack over to her mother..I guess all the heart palpitations coupled with Jack's need for Viagra scared her into the reality he was older than her father.. who incidentally graces us with a short kitchen scene in his turned up collar polo shirt (who dresses like that anymore..oops forgot was taking place on Cape 'Teddy Kennedy') Her father then takes a wife of 20 something after 3 weeks of really getting to know her and meeting her in Erica's kitchen aka Jack's assistant...am I boring you yet? As I said, just another older guy..younger woman..younger man older woman..older man younger woman. Somehow Nicholson was able to carry this film off enough so you didn't start counting the neck hairs on the guy sitting in front of you... with his built in devilish smiles and his pretty sharp designer linen shirts. The New England styled house, architecturally, was great, however. Ah...as you see, I became bored with the story and pretended I was touring through some Hollywood Celebs' beach front digs. Sorry, there was no 'spark' after over an hour of watching 2 sticks (Jack and Erica) rub together!
Rating: 
Summary: Something light for the holidays
Review: SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE is just what the season needs in the theaters - a bit of fluff with enough of a message to make it worthwhile. FINALLY we're getting movies about women who are not only beautiful but are intelligent and definite candidates for the roles of desirable leading ladies. Diane Keaton is a joy to watch - not only because she is beautiful but also because she is such an enormously gifted actor. Yes, the director could have put the reigns on her 'post-transformation' crying at the loss of love; that does get tiresome. But watch the way Keaton responds as a mother to Amanda Peet, as a sister to the always superb Frances McDormand, as a gradual paramour of an aging (well cast and well performed) Jack Nicholson, and as an incredulous recipient of the honest attractions of the younger Keanu Reeves. In each mode of her role she is not only credible, she takes us with her on a wise (and wise-cracking) journey into new territory. The openness of dealing with issues of the 'over 50 crowd' in career changes, love lost and love gained, and frank sexuality is such a relief from the norm and it is to the credit of Nancy Meyers that she continues to explore this realm (see "What Women Want"). Meyers manages to tell her tales of older romantic episodes without showing prejudice to either men or women. This is a well written (at least for the first 3/4s of the film) and well directed (ditto) funny yet tender comedy that shows off the talents of the five leads very well indeed. While the critics continue to pan the acting abilities of Keanu Reeves, here is a film that allows him subtleties and promises of depth we have not seen before. Well worth an afternoon's relief from the holiday madness.
Rating:
Summary: Great, or very good, but could have been a real classic...
Review: This movie is great for its performances... I'm sure it will one day be considered a classic due to the cast. Nancy Meyer's direction is always stylized and classy, and she steers away from cheesy a bit better than she did in from What Women Want, but her writing needs tightening. Some scenes played too long and others were dialogue redundant. Like most films made today, they could greatly improve with a script editor. This becomes all too apparent in the second half of the film. Also, the "Hamptons" and that whole set is a little nauseating, and the film ends on a lackluster note with an anemic Paul Simon song that doesn't fit with the "classics" score. Having said all that, I wish there were more films like this, great stars in simple stories with funny and romantic moments.
Rating: 
Summary: True love knows no (age) limits
Review: Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton are charming in this humorous love story about two intelligent, if not totally romantically centered, members of the middle-age set (toward the older end of the range). Diana Keaton has never been better. This was finally her perfect role. Jack Nicholson was cast in a part that could have been written especially for him. Erica Barry (Keaton) a successful middle-aged playwright who has emotionally and sexually closed herself off after divorcing her husband of 22 years (Paul Michael Glaser, still looking pretty good himself), meets the older man in her young daughter Marin's (Amanda Peet) life. This meeting marked by sudden, unexpected attack of the heart exposes her to successful entrepreneur and playboy Harry Sanborn (Nicholson). Sanborn has 'played at life' all of his 63 years before finally starting to get down to 'living his life' after facing the reality that he might have come close to the end of his life. Proving it never rains but it pours, Barry unexpectedly simultaneously claims the attention of Sanborn's young doctor (Keanu Reeves), some 20 years her junior, who finds her beauty and intelligence magnetically attractive. During a real rain storm, the genuine romance of the film begins to bloom. The charm of the movie is in looking on as two emotionally-challenged characters experience love, perhaps for the very first time, with all its pitfalls, peaks, comical and embarrassing moments, and the magic, tender, endearing episodes that make true love the roller coaster it always is. Keaton beautifully handles the over-the-top emotions of falling in love, portraying the highs and the lows, with equal brilliance. Nicholson, who as always portrays every mental spark that is a thought and every feeling that is an emotion on that amazing face; always a portrait in motion that can be as easily read as words on a page. There are a lot of laughs in this film and there are a lot of truths in the tale. Some reviewers have called this a menopause chick-flick. The audience when I attended was about equal male/female, including some male viewers without dates. The laughter seemed equally distributed along gender lines, telling me that the guys 'get it' as well as the females. Timeless romance with a sterling cast. See it soon and be reminded that love just gets better with age, as have Keaton and Nicholson.
Rating:
Summary: Review for Something's Gotta Give
Review: Something's Gotta Give doesn't sizzle, but its stars do. Like so many comedies written and/or directed by Nancy Meyers, it's a glossy, gimmicky sitcom, unnecessarily padded out to a couple of hours. The attempts the film makes to remedy the situation and continue to hold our interest do not manage to be as involving as the setup. Mr.Nickelson has the gentlemanly grace to step aside and let Ms.Keaton claim the movie. She in turn brings out in everyone around her. I would recommend seeing this.
Rating:
Summary: Keanu Reeves lost to THAT?
Review: Firstly, let me just say that I have never been a fan of Jack the sleazy, old, smug, bald, wifebeating, young-girl chasing (a la Woody Allen) Nicholson. And after this movie, I'm still not. Hollywood seems to love him (the man's won numerous oscars), and I just don't get it. Maybe I'm not meant to. That said, "Something's Gotta Give" was a good movie; well-conceived, clever, and well-directed. Kudos for Nicholson willing to poke fun at his own age and the incredulity of him dating women young enough to be his daughter (dare I mention, "As Good As it Gets"?). But he's still the oily sleazebag who thinks he's all that. I don't think it's gonna change. The main conflict of the movie revolves around aging playboy Nicholson and young doctor Keanu Reeves both falling for, and competing for the love of Diane Keaton's character. Keaton is absolutely radiant in this film, seething with feminine charm, with a beauty that seems to defy her age (unlike Nicholson). Her eyes have never been more expressive, and I think in her younger days she would have played a perfect Elizabeth Bennet from "Pride and Prejudice". Keaton continues to amaze me as the most beautiful and charming woman over 50; in other words, way too good for Nicholson. Keanu Reeves, on break after playing the Messiah Neo, makes a welcomed supporting appearance in this movie. Reeves plays a handsome, young doctor every bit as suave as Nicholson, just minus the sleaze and dislikeability. He's instantly smitten with Keaton's character and does his darndest to win her heart. I did not spoil the movie's ending for you: you already knew the ending, and I already knew the ending. This movie is about Nicholson and Keaton, so of course they end up together at the end; the only mystery is how the plot ends up there. Nevertheless, I gotta say the ending left me unsatisfied. Incredulous to me that Keanu Reeves would loose to...that. There was no doubt in my heart that Reeves' character would have made a far superior match with Keaton. A professional reviewer from a newspaper claimed that Nicholson and Keaton had real chemistry and a believeable romance going, whereas Keaton's relationship with Reeves was farfetched. I beg to differ. To me, the Keaton-Reeves relationship was far more real and believeable. The writers could have either made Reeves' character so minor that he served only as a plot device that no one cared about, or they could have let him "get the girl". Instead they chose to flesh out his character just enough for us to care about him, and then leave him out in the cold at the very end. I bet Reeves' character is wishing he never invited Nicholson to sit down at the table at that Paris restaurant. Oh well, I had a good time. As I said, it was a well-conceived and well-made movie. Even Nicholson did a good job with his role; I just don't have like him for it.
Rating:
Summary: Cluttered & Too Long, but Charming & Hilarious Nonetheless.
Review: Harry (Jack Nicholson) and his much younger girlfriend Marin (Amanda Peet) plan to spend a romantic weekend at Marin's family home in the Hamptons. But their plans go awry when Marin's mother Erica (Diane Keaton) and her aunt Zoe (Frances McDormand) show up unexpectedly. The couple is further foiled when Harry has a heart attack in Marin's arms. As Harry is unfit to travel, Erica reluctantly allows him to stay in her home while he recuperates. Erica, who is an accomplished playwright and 50-something divorcee, and Harry, an aging confirmed bachelor who has always confined his romantic aspirations to women half Erica's age, find themselves both attracted to and repulsed by one another. And the friction between them may ignite an unexpected spark. Let me first say that "Something's Gotta Give" elicited more laughs in the movie theater than any film in my memory. It's a good time at the movies. It's too bad that the movie runs too long and doesn't maintain its charm through the third act. It would be nice if the audience could leave the theater in as good a mood as they experienced for the first two-thirds of the movie. At about 2 hours long, "Something's Gotta Give" is too long for a romantic comedy. It has a few subplots and a few acts too many. The film is charming enough and paced well enough to overcome it, but a tighter script would have done wonders. And although most of the film is hilarious, it loses a lot of its charm and humor after the action moves from the Hamptons to New York city. The comedy and romance in "Something's Gotta Give" are, of course, derived from the notion that women of a certain age have a terrible time finding suitable men because the desirable men in that demographic date much-younger women. That's funny stuff, but it often seems like writer/director Nancy Meyers is trying to do more than entertain. She waves the older-women-can't-get-dates and older-men-who-date-younger-women-are-scum flags a little too high. And the repeated assertion that both old and young women are somehow victims of these aging Casanovas is insulting and, dare I say, inaccurate. This is a comedy; why not simply see the humor in the situation? It would be fine if the film said nothing. But mixed messages are a nuisance. Harry is chided for constantly cavorting with younger women, while Erica is congratulated when she does approximately the same thing. And why are these people so preoccupied with the age of their mates anyway? It's tiresome. "Something's Gotta Give" is undeniably funny but far from perfect. Erica's neuroses wear thin after a while. Harry is lovable when he's lecherous, but trying when he's earnest. The film is too long. I didn't for a moment believe that Harry and Erica were actually compatible, but romantic comedies are contrived by definition. But ultimately a comedy is required only to be funny in order to succeed. And two thirds of "Something's Gotta Give" is laugh-out-loud funny. Jack Nicholson deserves a lot of credit for being willing to look like a fool -and an old fool at that. There's some terrific physical comedy. I like the decision to use brief nudity for comic effect. And Keanu Reeves does a nice job as a very handsome doctor who pursues Erica. It would have been better if some of the clutter had been cleared out, but smart writing and no-holds-barred performances make "Something's Gotta Give" a funny and enjoyable film for just about everyone.
Rating: 
Summary: Jack, Diane, and the rest of the cast are good...
Review: Harry (Jack Nicholson) prefers younger women, and Erica (Diane Keaton) is the uptight mother of his latest girlfriend. They are the perfect foils for each other, but writer/director Nancy Meyers loses touch as she drags out the second half-and her supporting characters begin to feel random. Great acting by all pulls the movie up a notch...to counteract the unnecessary use of language and nudity.
Rating:
Summary: Jack at his best!
Review: This is Jack Nicholson at his best! It is laughter all the way through, but take a kleenex because you'll be laughing so hard,
you'll cry!
Who'd-a-thunk it with Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton?! They make quite an interesting but uneasy pair in this romantic comedy. Two people thrown together by the "good grace of a heart attack" and the story just rolls! You won't want to miss it!
Rating:
Summary: well acted, but a very standard, ordinary movie
Review: A film by Nancy Meyers There is a film stereotype where there is an older man who has a relationship with a much younger woman. In the majority of the cases with an age discrepancy, it is the man with a younger woman and not the other way around. There are exceptions, of course, but this is accurate as a general rule. "Something's Gotta Give" messes with that stereotype a little bit (and, unfortunately, only a little). Harry (Jack Nicholson) is the older man. He is a top executive at a record company and he is legendary for his propensity to date younger women. He is also legendary for never having been married. His current fling is with Marin (Amanda Peet). She is the "younger woman". Harry and Marin plan on spending a weekend together at Marin's mother's home. The mother is supposed to be away for the weekend working on her new play. This means, of course, that Marin's mother will show up and complicate the weekend. That is exactly what happens. Marin's mother Erica (Diane Keaton) and her aunt Zoe (Frances McDormand) show up just as Harry is downstairs in the kitchen (wearing only a shirt and underpants) getting something to eat. Naturally, the women freak out and are about to call the police on Harry when he is finally able to explain, with the help of Marin, who he is and why he is there. They all decide to act like rational adults and all spend the weekend at the house, but to keep out of each other's business. It wouldn't be much of a movie if that happened. When Harry and Marin are starting to get frisky one night, Harry has a heart attack (he is a 63 year old man, after all). They all rush to the hospital and his doctor, Julian (Keanu Reeves), helps save Harry. Julian also insists that Harry cannot return to the city and will only let him leave the hospital if he has somewhere to stay. Where might that be? Erica's house. Just as this happens, Marin and Zoe both leave and Erica is left to care for Harry, and she didn't even approve of him in the first place. This is the movie. Erica and Harry begin as two people who do not really like each other and are certainly not interested in each other. Erica finds Harry to be disgusting and Harry has never been attracted to a woman his own age (at least not since he was in his 20's). Julian, on the other hand, is familiar with Erica's work as a playwright and he is attracted to Erica. In this instance, we have a younger man falling for an older woman. But...the movie is about Harry and his journey, so we know that Harry must get over his obsession with younger women and we know that he is going to start to become attracted to a woman his own age. On one hand, it is nice to see an older man begin to be attracted to an older woman, especially when he is giving up a younger woman (in this case, the older woman's daughter), but I started to care more about Erica's journey because we knew exactly where Harry was going to end up and I wanted something different. This was a very standard (if well acted) movie that could very easily have given a twist to make "Something's Gotta Give" special. Let's be honest, and I'll ask the women who are reading this: Ladies, would you rather have Jack or Keanu? This movie could have been a whole lot more and could have really played with the convention and expectation that this movie was bringing, but it didn't. At nearly every moment, we know how this film is going to play out, and I was hoping for more. With that said, "Something's Gotta Give" is well acted, and well produced, but it is nothing out of the ordinary, either. -Joe Sherry
| 
