Despite the vitriolic reviews, I enjoyed myself watching this lightweight story of 60-somethings and a few of their kids working out relationships with each other and their canine counterparts. With big star power it looked like a slam dunk, but after being reviled by critics it left town after two weeks on two screens. I saw it on its last day, June 7, by myself because Jack was busy, and have been pushing it back down the pipeline because it's hard to defend. I suppose it's a bit sappy, but it doesn't deserve the hate. It's Lawrence Kasdan, after all. This is the eleventh movie he has directed. I loved six (Body Heat (1981) the script of which one of my film school teachers analyzed for at least a month, French Kiss (1995), Mumford (1999), The Big Chill (1983), Grand Canyon (1991), and The Accidental Tourist (1988), the last three earning him screenwriting Oscar nominations and the last was nominated for Best Picture). All ten (the other four are Silverado (1985), I Love You to Death (1990), Wyatt Earp (1994) and this one--I missed Dreamcatcher (2003)) have outstanding production values: beautiful pictures, glossy sets, and pretty people. Noteworthy that he also wrote Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Continental Divide (1981), and The Bodyguard (1992) for other directors. His wife Meg Kasdan co-wrote The Big Chill, Grand Canyon, and this, and the couple says they make a trilogy, as all are about ensembles of baby boomers led by Kevin Kline, in their thirties, forties, and now sixties.
Diane Keaton (profiled in Morning Glory) stars as Beth, an emotional wife and mother, who deals with her empty nest and workaholic husband with her devotion to a rescue dog she names Freeway for the location she found him. Keaton is totally unglamorous here and I liked her Beth. Kline (after I wrote about him in Queen to Play, he had a funny bit as Ashton Kutcher's dad in No Strings Attached) plays her husband Joseph who, you know if you saw the trailer, loses the dog. And, for the record, I didn't hate his character. Joseph's sister Penny is Dianne Wiest (covered in Rabbit Hole), adorable with new boyfriend Russell, played by Richard Jenkins (last in these pages in The Rum Diary) and Sam Shepard (profiled in Brothers) is the sheriff. The next generation is represented by Elisabeth Moss (briefly profiled in Get Him to the Greek) as Joseph and Beth's daughter, Mark Duplass (I saw this before Safety Not Guaranteed, but wrote about him in that post) as their nephew, and Ayelet Zurer (who is Israeli and played an Italian in Angels & Demons) as the Gypsy caretaker of their mountain house. The Kasdans have a rescue dog that they lost, searched for, and found on vacation in the Rockies.
Speaking of mountains, the locations and sets are magnificent, as to be expected from Kasdan. Shot in Park City, Sundance, and American Fork, Utah and Telluride, Colorado by Michael McDonough (Winter's Bone, Albert Nobbs, others), the images are spectacular, as are the interiors.
All the actors worked for scale (here's an idea of what that meant in 2003--I can't readily find a later pay schedule), which is too bad because the residuals will probably be bad. When I began this draft last month, rottentomatoes was giving it 21% from critics and 46% from audiences. It has since slipped to 21/44.
Clearly it's not a must-see, but if you happen on it on free cable, let me know what you think.
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