What a disappointment!
And So It Goes (Michael Douglas, Diane Keaton) – And So It Goes got up and went … badly. Start with one of the worst, least memorable titles for a movie ever. Some of you will go to this formulaic romantic comedy and walk away with a saccharine high.
What formula? Cute kid: Check. Dog: Check. Old, wisecracking lady: Check. Baby: Check. White couple, black couple, Hispanic couple, Asian couple. Check. Box office stars: Check. Curmudgeon: Check.
My disappointment resides at several levels. First, what a poor effort from wonderful director Rob Reiner! The maker of rom-coms When Harry Met Sally and The American President (among others) loses his touch in taking aging stars Michael Douglas (who he worked with in The American President) and Diane Keaton and surrounding them with a cliché of a story and a bunch of predictable sidekicks.
Then, there is Michael Douglas. I am glad he is feeling better but he looks both disengaged and appears to have phoned in this performance. He has earned it, I suppose. At 69, he plays Oren Little, an ogre of a landlord and real estate super-salesman who drinks too much and treats people horribly. Supposedly, this is because he can’t get over his wife’s death. He has given up on his drug addict son (a bit of art imitating life), who shows up asking dad to watch the 10-year-old granddaughter he didn’t know he had. Douglas’ character is just not believable. His conversion to doting grandfather is comforting yet unbelievable.
Lastly, there is the supporting cast. Reiner plays a lousy toupee-wearing pianist who accompanies our ingénue, Leah (Diane Keaton), a former actress-turned-lounge singer. His part looks like a budget saving move, not a performance. Reiner often shows up in his films but he is just irrelevant here. Even his pratfall is ridiculous.
The actors who live in the four-plex owned by Oren are caricatures. Not a single one of them stands out except Keaton, of course.
But I have to say something nice … so here goes. Diane Keaton just lights up the screen. From her Godfather and Annie Hall days through Father of the Bride and Something’s Gotta Give, she appears totally at ease with the camera. She has aged really well. But she can’t sing; more lounge lizard than songstress.
As good as she is, there is no way to save this script. Her character, Leah, practically adopts Oren’s new granddaughter and turns Oren into a human being. This happens despite the fact that, even though they are next-door four-plex neighbors, Leah and Oren haven’t had a good word to say about each other until the kid shows up. Next stop: sex. How do you think this ends? You’re right.
Stay home. Rent Reiner’s previously mentioned rom-coms instead of seeing And So It Goes.