FamilyFans Movies
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BECAUSE I SAID DO (PG-13)
Plot Summary: A controlling mother secretly tries to find the right husband for her youngest daughter.
Reason for the Rating: Sexual content including dialogue, some mature thematic material and partial nudity.
Because I Said So is the hilarious story of a meddling mother and her unlucky-in-love daughter, but it could be also a reminder about how important it is for parents to let their adult kids make their own mistakes.
Diane Keaton stars as Daphne Wilder, a single mom with three beautiful adult daughters: Mae (played by Piper Perabo), Maggie (Lauren Graham), and Milly (and Mandy Moore). Daphne doesn't want her youngest daughter Milly to end up just like her alone and lonely, so after Milly's latest love disaster, Daphne decides to take matters into her own hands. She places an Internet personal ad and begins interviewing potential boyfriends for her daughter, without her daughter's knowledge.
After questioning a string of losers, Daphne finally finds an architect named Jason (Tom Everett Scott) whom she thinks is appropriate for Milly. They arrange for him to call Milly's catering business, Good Enuf to Eat, to cater an event at a new building he designed. But in the meantime, a musician named Johnny (Gabriel Macht), playing in the lounge where Daphne held the interviews, decides he wants to meet Daphne's daughter too. He takes one of her business cards for himself without Daphne's approval. The rest of the movie tells the story of how Daphne's deception plays out as Milly dates both men and must make a decision about which one she will keep. And in true romantic comedy form, Daphne also unexpectedly finds true love.
I
thought this movie was
truly funny. I'm a pratfall girl at heart, so when Moore struggles with extreme
static cling (courtesy of a red balloon stuck), I was
rolling on the floor. The interview scene was a hoot, too, as what seemed like
dozens of assorted oddball men tried unsuccessfully to make the cut with Daphne.
On the serious side, moms will identify with the desire to have their children
avoid the mistakes they made and daughters will identify with the struggle
between wanting to be like their parents and at the same time wanting to be
different. All around, the acting was really good and the story held my interest
from start to end.
Having said that, I had a more than a few uncomfortable-parent moments too; for some reason Daphne's daughters are way too comfortable sharing the most intimate details of their sex lives with their mom. That's just not the kind of thing you talk about with your mother. There are suggestions of sexual encounters as commonplace events, and one blatant (though fully-clothed) sex scene between Daphne and her fianc้ before their wedding ceremony starts.
In spite of that, I really
enjoyed Because I Said So. Belly laughs are good for the soul and this movie was
well done. However, I would not recommend bringing kids of any age to this show,
and in fact, I wouldn't be comfortable watching it with my own adult daughters
too much cringe factor.
FAMILYFANS RECOMMENDS:
Entertaining - but best for adults only.
AFTER THE SHOW:
Why do you think is it so hard for Daphne to let Milly be her own person? When are you like that? Explain.
How could Milly better help her mom get the message to stop controlling her - without damaging the mother/daughter relationship irreparably?
What, if any, are some of the differences between the way Daphne shows love to her family, and the way love is portrayed in the Bible? Explain.
TG
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