Just two years ago, Innocence, an Australian film directed by Paul Cox, dramatized the
unusual possibility (unusual for cinema anyway) of a sexual relationship
between two elderly people, who renew the love of their vanished youth with a
genuine and touching passion.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย In
contrast to that quiet, bittersweet romance, conducted within the context of an
acknowledged mortality, Nancy Meyers’ Something’s
Gotta Give exploits the comedy in a roughly similar situation, in effect
playing the potentially melancholy material almost entirely for laughs.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย The
differences between the two movies suggest a good deal about the Hollywood
treatment of such an unorthodox but entirely plausible subject. American film
tends, for good or for bad, to turn delicate and occasionally painful matters
into something slick and even ridiculous, perhaps even the tendency of
Americans to prefer hopeful illusion to grim reality.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย The
picture stars two mature actors playing people roughly their own age, something
of a refreshing departure from the common practice of older actors, often
assisted by chemistry or surgery, pretending to be young. Jack Nicholson plays
Harry Sanborn, a wealthy bachelor of the Donald Trump-Michael Bloomberg
variety. He is known in the gossip columns for his penchant for beautiful young
women — he boasts that he never dates anyone under 30. As the picture opens,
he and his latest companion, a lissome lovely named Marin Barry (Amanda Peet),
who perfectly fits Sanborn’s age requirements, arrive at her divorced mother’s
splendid place in the Hamptons for a romantic summer weekend.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Since
the ancient rules of comedy specify that such an idyll must perforce suffer
some unexpected interruption, Marin’s mother, Erica (Diane Keaton), a
successful playwright, shows up, along with her sister, a professor of women’s
studies at Columbia (Frances McDormand). Although embarrassed at being caught
in his underwear in Keaton’s kitchen, Nicholson displays some of the sangfroid
and good humor that, along with his money, apparently account for his success
with the ladies.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Charmed
despite themselves and their analysis of what they regard as his deficient
personality, the two sisters almost enjoy his company. When he suffers a heart
attack, however, and must recuperate for a spell in the Hamptons, Nicholson
turns into something like the man who came to dinner, except that as anyone can
predict, he will eventually gratify other sorts of appetites in Keaton’s house.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย The
forced propinquity leads to a few farcical episodes, including Nicholson’s
inadvertently stumbling into Keaton’s room just as she has stripped for a
shower, as well as some acerbic byplay in a Hollywood tradition of wisecracking
antagonism that dates back to the 1930s. Keaton also encounters the handsome
young doctor who treats Nicholson (Keanu Reeves). The doctor admires her plays,
finds her desirable, showers her with compliments, and takes her out to dinner.
Following another ancient rule of romantic comedy, her relationship with Reeves
becomes one of those familiar comic obstacles to the correct couple finally
connecting.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย The
major reversal of the comic situation derives simply from the age of the two
principals. In traditional romantic comedy, the parental figures often impede
the progress of true love, disapproving of one or another young person’s choice
of mate. Comedy, after all, deals with the triumph of youth over age, of
innocence over experience, of the future over the past. Demonstrating that it
is a work for this time, Something’s
Gotta Give reverses that antique concept, so that eventually, despite
various impediments, especially the presence of Keaton’s young swain, the two
correct people, the man and woman of a certain age, do indeed get together.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย The
movie’s characterization and action depend in part on Nicholson’s extensive
sexual experience — one of the sillier sequences shows him making a
pilgrimage to all his past loves to apologize for his insensitivity or
something, and as a sign of the times, Viagra plays an important part in his
life.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย At
the same time, the picture also attempts to deal with Keaton’s sexual
reawakening. Both frightened and thrilled at the prospect of sex after some
years, she happily discovers that, as she says, it all still works and, as
Nicholson assures her, works very well. Predictably — and very little in the
film is not entirely predictable — her sexuality finally triumphs over
Nicholson’s promiscuity, and love blossoms along with lust, bringing the two
together at last and for good.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Once
again Jack Nicholson demonstrates a sure comic touch, using his whiny nasal
voice, his Gothic eyebrows, and now, his increased girth with delicate timing
and a real sense of fun. Divested of most of the annoying tics, twitches,
shrugs, and squints that she apparently acquired at the Sandy Dennis Academy of
Acting, Diane Keaton most of the time manages to hold her own against the force
of Nicholson and the character he plays.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย For
unclear reasons, a drumbeat of rumor, no doubt generated by the usual
percussionists, suggests that Keaton will win an Academy Award nomination for
the part. That rumor amounts to the same sort of hype that surrounds the whole
movie. After all, it is a slick, entertaining, lightweight piece of work,
intermittently funny, and entirely mechanical from start to finish.
Something’s Gotta Give, starring Jack Nicholson, Diane Keaton, Amanda
Peet, Frances McDormand, Keanu Reeves, Jon Favreau, Paul Michael Glaser;
written and directed by Nancy Meyers. Cinemark Tinseltown, Hoyts Greece Ridge,
Loews Webster, Pittsford Plaza Cinema, Regal Culver Ridge, Regal Eastview,
Regal Henrietta.
You can hear George and his movie reviews on WXXI-FM
91.5 Fridays at 7:20 a.m., rerun on Saturdays at 8:50 a.m.
This article appears in Dec 17-23, 2003.
