Because I Said So
An overbearing mother micromanages her daughter’s love life.
Diane Keaton may be one of the finest actresses of her generation, said Bruce Newman in the San Jose Mercury News. But Because I Said So is almost certainly the worst film she's ever starred in. Keaton, a pushy mother to lovelorn Mandy Moore, signs up her daughter for an online dating service and then micromanages the ensuing affairs. The usually appealing Keaton 'œhas been handed the most appallingly irritating character of her career and asked to make her funny.' Instead, she's rather scary, said Mick LaSalle in the San Francisco Chronicle. Keaton's meddlesome control freak seems egregiously out of place in what's supposed to be a romantic comedy. She delivers the relentless performance with hardly a wink, so 'œthere's never a moment of doubt, humility, or genuine shame' to let the audience enjoy the joke. The rest of Michael Lehmann's film is similarly tone-deaf, said Mary F. Pols in the Contra Costa, Calif., Times. 'œAccidental cake-in-the-face slapstick' sits side by side with shrill familial bickering and corny gags. 'œWhen a filmmaker relies on reaction shots from a dog for humor, you know something's missing.' It's the laughs.
Rating: PG-13
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
The Week contest: Flight fraud
Puzzles and Quizzes
-
Is Trump sidelining Congress' war powers?
Today's Big Question The Iran attack renews a long-running debate
-
6 productivity-ready homes with great offices
Feature Featuring an office with a gas fireplace in Oregon and a shared workspace with wraparound windows in Massachusetts