We’ve all heard it, “because I said so,” that non-arguable and nondescript answer to our childhood favorite “because why” response when we’re told to do something by our parents. These two cliché phrases go together like katsup and french-fries. Unlike the devouring of greasy-goodness, the hearing of “because I said so” leaves an empty ill satisfying knot of frustration in our stomachs. To argue the logistical “that’s not a reason, it’s a fragment” is rather hopeless.
The “because I said so” universal frustration is the foundation to the cleaver movie of the same name Staring Diane Keaton and Mandy Moore. Keaton plays an over-the-top and overbearing single mother of three adult daughters; taking meddling to an obscene level.
At times I felt as though I were watching Keaton in one of her previous roles; she always seems to land the older, independent leading-lady characters. I felt as though I’ve seen her give this performance.
That aside, I think what makes this movie cleaver is the truthful portrayal of mother-child relationships. By that I mean, we’ve all felt the irritation of feeling put down by a mother who is doing her best to lift us up, and what mother hasn’t felt the aggravation of not quite ever saying the right thing.
At critical moments, I wanted to shout at Keaton. I wanted to stick up for Mandy Moore’s character of, Millie, a beautifully awkward twenty-something just trying to navigate through the seemingly harsh waters of love. This reaction in me was most likely because I identified wholly with Moore’s character – right down to the nervous ‘hyena laugh.’
If Millie had any problem, it was lack of confidence and lack of positive definition of self. I believe more and more this is a female trait; attributed to women who fixate on the negative, nagging words of a mother and define themselves in these terms. You know the type, the women who have been broken by love and therefore define themselves as broken. Titles have developed as a result: single, divorced, rejected, unrequited, etc. Until a woman can see herself as whole, everyone around her will see her has broken – including her mother – even if subconsciously as proof in our “fixing people up” with each other. Aren’t moms are always trying to fix things – and maybe, just maybe, they’re not broken.
Gabriel Macht stole every scene, as Johnny, the in-tuned artist with the ability to make perfect sense of Millie’s circle-talk. While his bright smile and kind eyes helped, Macht’s honest portrayal of a man following his heart and not looking to change someone else’s, cinched it.
I really did enjoy this movie due to its humor driven portrayal of dysfunction in family relationships – without being dark and pretentious. It is simply a real movie with that all too common conflict of dealing with those closest to you – and loving them along the way.