Because I Said So

Like any mother-daughter relationships, movies about mothers and their daughters are complicated. The Joy Luck Club rode on the sentiments of how daughters never felt good enough for their mothers, and Freaky Friday gave an insight into the different lives of both mother and daughter when they swap bodies.

Enter the latest mother-daughter movie, Because I Said So. Sixty year-old Daphne (Diane Keaton) wishes for nothing more than to see her three grown up daughters find their match, get married and live happily ever after. While her first two daughters have managed to tie the knot, youngest daughter Milly (Mandy Moore) keeps falling for the wrong men.

Daphne decides to take things into her own hands and places a personal ad online for her daughter. After vetting the candidates, Daphne settles on Jason, an architect who seems to have it all. Both Daphne and her chosen suitor start kicking off their plan to get Milly to fall in love with Jason. 

Meanwhile, Milly also meets Johnny, a musician who charms her off her socks. Flattered by the attention from the two men, Milly can’t believe her luck and starts dating both, which leads to a dilemma. Does she go with her gut feeling and continue seeing Johnny whom she obviously loves? Or follow her mother’s advice and marry Jason whom she doesn’t seem to understand?

This film could’ve easily been a fun chick flick. Instead, director Michael Lehmann (The Truth About Cats and Dogs) chooses to make his characters annoying, running them into the ground with a clichÈd story. In a scene where Daphne and Milly spend some time together, Daphne reveals to her daughter a big secret: that she’s never had the big “O.” The scene explains to Milly why her mother only wants the best for her daughters, but the moment is demolished when Daphne is shown tastelessly indulging in the so-called “O” before she ties the knot herself.

It doesn’t take a genius to guess the man who Milly eventually ends up with. Or Daphne’s man of choice, for that matter. The movie’s predictability can be excused because it’s romantic comedy fluff, but what’s unforgivable is how a credible actor like Keaton denigrates herself with such a demeaning role, with Moore trailing close behind.
 

Dir Michael Lehmann Cast Diane Keaton, Mandy Moore, Gabriel Macht, Tom Everett Scott, Lauren Graham, Piper Perabo Runtime 102 minutes Opens 26 July

Text Jolyn Thong