Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

 Jack Nicholson is a horny old man who is into young women. He also plays one in this film. He’s Harry, an infamous playboy and hip-hop exec (!) in his sixties and currently dating Marin (Amanda Peet). They decide to head for the Hamptons, and Marin’s mother’s beach house, whilst mother is supposedly away. Unfortunately, Marin’s mother Erica (Diane Keaton), a famous playwright decided to come to the Hamptons to do some writing, and she and her sister Zoe (Frances McDormand) walk in to find Nicholson in her kitchen, barely clothed. Once everyone has calmed down a tad, it’s decided that there is no reason why all four can’t peacefully co-exist for the weekend. And that’s when Nicholson has a mild heart attack. During foreplay, of course. Harry’s doctor Julian (Keanu Reeves) says Harry needs rest and advises against travel for a while. This results in poor, uptight Erica having to put up with an unwanted, and rather lascivious houseguest. Oh, and Marin? Well, she needs to go away for a bit. In the meantime, Harry and Erica get on each other’s nerves, and eventually get to kinda like each other, maybe even more than that. Harry even finds himself in new territory, being attracted to an ‘older’ woman. Meanwhile, Dr. Mercer (who is in his mid-to-late 30s) is seemingly taking an interest in Erica too, being a big fan of her work. Paul Michael Glaser plays Marin’s divorced dad (and both Erica’s ex-husband and her agent), Rachel Ticotin plays an emergency room doctor, and Jon Favreau is Harry’s loyal assistant.

It starts out a little slow, and some of it is a bit clunky and silly, but this film from writer-director Nancy Meyers (“What Women Want”) was at the time a breath of fresh air in some respects for giving us a romantic comedy centred around two people over the age of 50. It’s got some great laughs here and there, some moments of truth, and the charisma of two of the world’s most popular movie stars (backed by a supporting cast with impressive clout, too).

Some of Diane Keaton’s tics and mannerisms grated on me, as did one way too prolonged passage of crying, but if you’re a Diane Keaton fan, you’ll love her in this. She even briefly shows bare flesh, which for once is truly deserving of the term ‘brave’ that critics are strangely fond of using for performances involving nudity. She’s got nothing at all to be ashamed about with her body, but nonetheless Keaton was nearly 60 at the time. Not many near 60 year-olds would be so uninhibited. Jack Nicholson, however, blows her (and everyone else) completely out of the water with a devilishly naughty, yet roguishly charming, scene-stealing performance. Playing a character somewhat inspired by his public persona, he gets almost all of the film’s best and funniest moments. The hospital scene in particular is hilarious, and it’s from that moment on that the film really soars. I’m not sure I bought him as a hip-hop executive, but Jack is otherwise pitch-perfectly cast as a guy who never expected to have feelings for someone close to his age, let alone feelings that go beyond the superficial. It scares him a little, one senses, and this performance is third in a trilogy of performances where the big-time movie star has shown traces of aging and vulnerability (the other two being “As Good as It Gets” and “About Schmidt”).

Frances McDormand, meanwhile, looks to be having altogether too much fun watching these two big stars do their thing, but is amusing in her own right, despite not getting nearly enough screen time. Hell, even Keanu’s perfectly fine as the doctor, even if he doesn’t sound like he graduated high school, let alone medical school. Give him credit, though, he almost convinces you that someone his age would be romantically interested in someone Keaton’s age. Yes, it happens, but not all that often (and the film goes into all of this hypocritical stuff, believe me), though I’m glad the then 39 year-old actor was cast over say, a 25 year-old or something. In fact, the way the film plays around with the idea of a May-December romance in several variations is among the film’s highlights. It’s a smart film.

Amanda Peet is just OK as the much younger girlfriend and daughter, but her character’s treatment of Nicholson came across as not only cruel, but clunkily written. It’s almost as if Meyers didn’t quite have a handle on how she really felt about the Marin character.

Anytime Keaton and Nicholson are on screen together, the film really, really works (though the climax is a tad over-the-top). Nicholson’s eyebrows, in particular, haven’t been this suggestive since “The Witches of Eastwick”, and despite the characters’ differing personalities, to the audience they clearly have chemistry, shown in a few nice stretches of dialogue in between the more slapstick elements. It’s not as good as “About Schmidt”, and is every bit as clichéd as the usual romantic comedy, except that its central characters are much older, and that actually makes a difference. It adds a depth and richness that really can only come with age (Though I’m about to turn 33 myself, so what the hell do I know about being old? I’m definitely on my way, though), as do the star performances. It gets across its ‘older people have love lives too, damnit!’ message (or is it that ‘older people still struggle in matters of the heart’?) in a wholly enjoyable, funny, intelligent, and romantic way, and anyone who finds it off-putting needs to remember that they too, will be old someday. So be kind! 

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day