Annie Hall, where art thou ?

Poor Diane Keaton must have been desperate for a paycheck when she ends up as Daphne a divorced mum of 60 something with three daughters. The youngest, Millie (Mandy Moore), remains unmarried; still looking for a suitable man in her life. Millie seems to be most attractive to the greatest losers around the place.

Dimwit Daphne takes things into her own hands by advertising for a life partner for Millie on the Internet. What a great plan that is. Soon Daphne is auditioning a weird assortment of guys who answer the advert. The best of the applicants by a yard is successful wealthy architect Jason (Tom Everett Scott) so Daphne manages to arrange Jason to a meet Millie and with enthusiasm from mum they start dating.

But Milly is also dating rock musician Johnny (Gabriel Macht) a down to earth sort of guy, who is definitely not on Daphne's hot list but is the more appealing to her daughter. So thoroughly modern Millie is making out with both men and doesn't know how to end either relationship. You don't have to be psychic to guess the outcome.

This floundering comedy about the over bearing interfering mother and her daughter's romantic predicament is not helped by dubious humour as when Moore describes her latest orgasms to Keaton which might well have phased a lesser mum, or indeed soppy lines like Moore "smelling like cake batter" Certainly someone has burnt the cakes this time.

Diane Keaton so overacts, is so loud and nutty one has to wonder where the director was during the filming of her scenes. Sad really to see the talent of Annie Hall wasted in this way. She obviously is at her best under the helm of Woody Allen who seemed to be able to keep her excesses in check. The films she made with Allen remain comedy classics "Play It Again Sam" (1972) "Sleeper" (1973) "Love and Death" (1975) and especially her Academy Award performance as "Annie Hall" (1977). More recently she has appeared in "Father of the Bride", "First Wives Club", and "Something's Gotta Give".

Both Mandy Moore (American Dreamz, The Princess Diaries) and Gabriel Macht (The Good Shepherd, The Recruit) are pleasant enough in their roles without reaching any great heights.

Directed - if one may call it that - by Michael Lehmann who had at least one good credit behind him in Heathers (1989) that dark teen comedy; although his output since then has not been remarkable and this film won't add to his score. Being generous here giving two stars for the occasional laugh but they are sadly few and far between.

John Bale

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Because I Said So

Our rating:

Director: Michael Lehmann
Cast: Diane Keaton, Mandy Moore, Gabriel Macht, Tom Everett Scott and Lauren Graham
Release: 10 May 2007
Rated: M

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