And So It Goes

Rob Reiner's And So It Goes is a light and frothy sitcom starring two talents that are much bigger than the material deserves - namely, Michael Douglas and Diane Keaton.  Is there anything wrong with these actors tackling a light and frothy comedy?  Of course not.  It's just that when you dream of a project that would team up great actors like Douglas and Keaton, a feature length TV sitcom would probably not be your first pick.

The movie is yet another story about a sarcastic and grumpy old curmudgeon who is forced to open his heart a little for the first time, and winds up winning everyone over.  You've seen the character type before in films like As Good as It Gets, Something's Gotta Give and The Bucket List.  And yes, I realize that all those movies starred Jack Nicholson as the curmudgeon.  In fact, I have a strong hunch that the male lead in this script was written with Nicholson in mind, as well.  Considering that this film's screenwriter Mark Andrus also wrote As Good as It Gets, it's probably not much of a stretch.  But, Nicholson is more or less retired, so Michael Douglas takes on the curmudgeon role this time, while Diane Keaton plays the woman who wins his heart.  At least she has experience with these kind of films, as she starred alongside Nicholson in Something's Gotta Give.

Douglas plays Oren Little, a crusty and ornery old real estate agent on the verge of retirement who lives in a cute little fourplex filled with colorful characters, a couple of adorable kids, and a dog.  Of the people who share the building with Oren, the only one who matters or is developed on any level is his next door neighbor, Leah (Diane Keaton), a struggling lounge singer who is still hurt deeply over the passing of her husband years ago, and can't get through singing a romantic song without thinking of him and breaking into tears.  Oren and Leah are not on good terms with each other at the beginning of the movie, so we know with absolute certainty that they will sleep together by the middle of the film, and be a couple by the end.  This is not a spoiler, rather it is the predetermined path that the screenplay is required to take with such characters.

The plot kicks off when Oren gets a visit from his estranged adult son, Luke (Scott Shepherd).  Turns out Luke is a recovering heroin addict, and even though he's clean, he must serve a short prison sentence.  While the son is gone, he wants Oren to look after his 10-year-old daughter, Sarah (Sterling Jerin).  Oren tries to refuse, but there's little he can do but let the sad-eyed little moppet into his life.  Obviously, he has no idea how to look after a little girl, so Leah steps in to help and becomes a grandmother figure to the little girl.  This is when the barrier between Oren and Leah gradually breaks down, and we also get to see Oren warm up to little Sarah.  All of this is told in a rather perfunctory fashion, as if the screenplay itself knows how cliched these characters and situations are, and can't muster the enthusiasm to make us care about them.

And So It Goes is pleasant enough to watch, and I smiled a few times, but it never strives for anything greater.  The characters start at stock, and pretty much stop there.  There's no effort to make them more human, or make them stand out.  I wouldn't mind being able to predict every turn the screenplay took if I could detect some passion in the dialogue, or maybe an interesting character quirk or two.  Sadly, it never deviates from its rigid course.  Douglas and Keaton are fine in their roles, and obviously have some nice chemistry.  But this comes solely from their performances, not anything that's been written for them.  They are probably giving this material more effort than it deserves.  Outside of their performances, nothing really stands out.  Even the little girl Sarah, while cute and likable, is about as bland as a child character can be written.  The movie even forgets to give her a scene where she truly bonds with Grandpa Oren.  The most we get is a moment where they watch Duck Dynasty together.

This movie is yet another step down for director Rob Reiner, who once made wonderful movies like This is Spinal Tap, Stand By Me, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally and Misery.  It's not terrible by any means, but given his track record, you expect more than a vanilla offering such as this.  Sadly, given some of the more recent movies Reiner has given us, maybe it is time we expect something like this.

See related merchandise at Amazon.com!

0 comments