Ainsi va la vie

"In every heart there is a room/A sanctuary safe and strong/To heal the wounds from lovers past/Until a new one comes along." Billy Joel

Respectfully depicting romance with sixty something's is as challenging as getting someone other than Jack Nicholson to play the male lead. Director Rob Reiner in An So It Goes has achieved the near impossible by having Michael Douglas do better than Jack by underplaying a crusty but ultimately dear real estate agent, Oren Little, a widower selling his own 8 million dollar home somewhere in Fairfield, Connecticut.

With Diane Keaton for the love interest singing in a lounge (Frankie Valli plays the owner!) a sweet range of Rodgers & Hart, Irving Berlin, and Jimmy van Huesen tunes, Reiner has two Oscar-winning performers who mostly underplay the attraction that takes them out of the clichéd situation of "hate then love" into a more reasonable slow growth to affection. Writer Mark Andrus, who knows of these matters from writing As Good as It Gets, in which Jack gets his reality check also from Keaton, offers subplots without the usual screaming and insults. However, make no mistake, the plot is as predictable as it gets.

Oren inherits his hitherto unknown granddaughter, Sarah (Sterling Jerins), from a prison-bound ex-junkie son, Luke (Scott Shepherd). Neighbor Leah (Keaton), finding in Sarah the granddaughter she never had, sometimes seems to question that she could have feelings for such a meathead as Oren. When Oren accurately reflects me at my most clueless, I temper my criticism of clichés.

Because Douglas himself has had major challenges with his son, Cameron--a drug addict still doing time--authenticity pours out of Douglas, who gives a believable performance as the conflicted father/grandfather. In real life Douglas called himself a "bad father," so I award him points for honesty then and courage for his depiction now.

Although I would have preferred more depth in Oren's relationship with Luke, Andrus and Reiner go enough into Oren's growing love for Sarah and his appreciation for Leah. With no new story creativity, the seasoned actors make the plot combinations reasonable. Even the minor characters defy their stereotypes, headed by Frances Sternhagen as Oren's real-estate partner with a penchant for cigarettes and sardonic repartee with Oren. Hints of the screwball comedy! She's that good.

Reiner should be applauded for toning down the bad jokes usually accompanying Social-Security-eligible lovers. However, I don't believe Douglas would forsake Catherine Zeta-Jones for Keaton. That's the reality we know. And so it goes.

The story itself is pretty simple. The characters are kind of simple too (at least the one played by Michael Douglas). But the way they play (off each other), is phenomenal. There is something to the actors, which we know they are able to charm us and that they have the ability to take things to another level. And that is what they are doing here, elevating the movie itself.

There have been a couple of movies, where the main character is unlikeable at first. And this "method" makes sense, but only if a really strong actor is playing that role. Some things might go a bit too smooth, but overall you know where this is going. It's a nice movie, with overall good acting and superb acting by our two leads.

If you were told to watch a movie directed by Rob Reiner, starring Michael Douglas and Diane Keaton, with a budget of $30 mil. you could think that you are about to experience a movie with powerful emotions and an interesting plot.

Actually, in the end, this is a rather simple movie and its course is obvious from the beginning.

Michael Douglas plays Oren Little, a realtor who's about to retire after he makes his last sale, and Diane Keaton plays his singer next-door neighbor. What will happen between them is to be seen (I won't spoil it for you) but I'm pretty sure you have already guessed.

The acting from the 2 veteran actors is effortless but the direction from the once-mighty Rob Reiner is too simple and targeting more for a few easy laughs if nothing else. Note that Reiner is also in the movie as the pianist who plays for Diane Keaton's character.

It's a dramedy more than just a comedy but even the dramatic elements are more likely to promote laughter, if not anything else.

There a couple of good songs sang by Keaton (?) and you also get to see Grease's Frankie Valli in a cameo appearance.

Overall: It's OK. Douglas/Keaton are fun to watch, but don't expect greatness.

Just watched this with my mom on a Netflix disc. We both enjoyed this mostly leisurely humorous look at a couple of older leads-Michael Douglas and Diane Keaton-coping with the loss of their spouses while also dealing with one selling his former home as a realtor (Douglas), one trying to not get too depressed while performing songs on stage (Keaton), and both dealing with a young girl-Douglas' son's offspring whose father is about to go to jail for a crime he didn't commit-staying in the grassy retreat neighborhood they live next door in. I'll just now say this was quite humorous and touching if not hilarious or too dramatic. Director Rob Reiner gives a nice measured pace throughout and appears himself as Keaton's pianist accompanist with an obvious bad hair job! I also liked Frances Sternhagen as Michael's fellow real estate work mate, and that girl played by Sterling Jerins. So on that note, And So It Goes is worth a look.

You can't watch this film and not think of one of the two films I referred to- 2003's "Something's Gotta Give" and of course the Oscar- winning 1997 "As Good As It Gets". Overall, I'll give "And So It Goes" a modest recommendation if you liked those two films, but this movie has got it's problems. One of those problems I think honestly is the length- at only 90 minutes (your standard running time to maximize the movie multiplexes' number of showtimes), you just don't have the time to fully develop the story and characters; unlike "As Good As It Gets" for instance- a 2 & 1/2 hour movie. Oscar winners Diane Keaton & Michael Douglas I think work well together, and have on-screen chemistry. They just needed a more fully-developed screenplay.

And Rob Reiner (who also has a supporting role in the film)- wow; this guy used to be one of the top Hollywood filmmakers of the '80s and early '90s- with films like "Princess Bride", "Stand By Me", "When Harry Met Sally", "Misery", "A Few Good Men", etc... He had a modest comeback with the 2000's film "Bucket List", but other than that, the guy can't seem to catch a break about the past 20 years- ever since that infamous bomb "North" I'd say?? Well, anyhoo, if you're looking for something to watch, and the aforementioned films are not readily available (or you've seen them enough already), you may wanna give this a try- And so it goes...