Don’t waste your time. Seriously, I haven’t been this disappointed in a movie since I paid money to watch Home on the Range with my daughter. The film features Diane Keaton, Mandy Moore, Lauren Graham and Piper Perabo. 
Keaton plays Daphne Wilder, a mother of three beautiful daughters (Moore, Graham and Perabo). She dances in attendance at the weddings of her two older daughters Maggie and Mae (Graham and Perabo) but wrings her hands in worry that Milly (Moore) is never going to be happy. Milly has a string of bad relationships that we hear about more than see. She makes rash, impulsive decisions and Daphne frets that Milly will end up like herself, alone and bitter.
Mom Knows Best, Right?
So what does Mom do? Well what any sensible mother that is desperate for her daughter’s happiness would do (so not really). She creates this monster personal ad entitled “Mother Seeks Life Partner For Daughter.” If you are already cringing, you aren’t alone. What follows is a typically horrible set of Mother interviews potential suitors before settling on Mr. Boring Jason the Architect as the most likely candidate. She gives him the mom seal of approval and Milly’s business card so he can arrange a meeting.
I am literally shuddering as I write this. It just goes from bad to worse here because not only is Jason boring, he’s almost too perfect. He hits it off with Milly, who’s nervous and doesn’t act remotely like herself with him. The one small redeeming quality is guitarist Johnny who watched Mom Daphne do all those hideous interviews. He was charmed by Daphne and offered to meet her daughter, but she shot him down as horribly unsuitable – he’s just a musician after all. So, in a fit of pique, he sets out to meet Milly himself and from there – well, let’s just say it goes downhill.
The Good, The Bad and the Horrible
This movie has so much potential. The cast is phenomenal and the story has great possibilities, but ultimately it’s just a sad commentary on an interfering mother who doesn’t have a life and has a history of disappointments and she’s willing to do anything to bend her daughter’s life into the image she wants it to be. Sure she meets Johnny’s dad and gets randy (and as much as I like Stephen Collins – those scenes were just horrible for Keaton and Collins) and then discovers by finally opening her eyes to see how her daughter responds to the two men in her life.
Milly’s charming naiveté is shot when she not only dates both men, but is intimate with both. She develops strong feelings for each of them for different reasons and she keeps each in the dark. Course, she’s still in the dark as to why she met them in the first place. When she’s found out by Johnny, the typical dumping occurs and her heart is broken. She pressed on with Jason only to discover that she was set up with him by her mother and that breaks her heart further.
I just couldn’t feel sympathetic. All I could think when the movie ended is: thank God that’s over. Because I Said So is rated PG-13 for sexual situations and partial nudity (that was at least tasteful) a good portion of the rest of it wasn’t. Ladies, you may think this would be a great chick flick. It’s not. Save your money and your time.
Don’t see this movie — and because I said so is a good reason, believe me.