Arrenditi, Dorothy

like food, few films are the expressions of taste. Surrender, Dorothy is one. not the script, not the acting, not the moral lesson are important in its case. only the final taste.like a lemon with sugar. a tragedy. a mother. few couples. and the meaning of life. nothing new. but useful for the rediscover of old themes, for Diane Keaton, for the fragility of truth and for not bad cast looking save a story who is not real convincing. a film about miracles. like many others. not bad, not good. only decent. with a huge potential, using ordinary way, proposing a drama who is far to be touching but seems be a nice summer story with few interesting scenes, good actors and high expectations. a film about an event who change lives. and who gives few directions for the imagination of viewer.

Who eats ice cream out of a cup with spoon while driving a car, having a conversation, and feeding ice cream to the other passenger? Why not close your eyes and take your hands off the wheel like Diane Keaton chose to do after she learned her only child DIED IN A CAR WRECK? This kind of bad writing insults the audience. Then, the actors, who are supposed to be the deceased Sarah's best friends, continue on with their vacation and the deceased girl's grieving mother joins them so she can get closer to Sarah's private life while she grieves the loss of her only child. Who does that? Before the diary was ever read, I knew it contained the poor dead girl's burdens of feeling like she had to be her mother's universe. And what was the deal with that hideous growth on that poor waitress' chin? What was the point to that? Was there some symbolism there besides she must not have a best friend because if she did, her best friend would tell her to shave her beard? This, coming from a girl who clearly would rather spend all her time with a homosexual man than take a risk of developing a relationship with a man who is not the husband of her best friend. Who is the best friend that tells you she's sleeping with your husband? I had a hard time liking Sarah after that. The plot gets more annoying as it becomes obvious that the deceased girl's mother not only tried to control every minute of her only daughter's life, but also had to invade her private relationships with her friends after she was dead, as if Sarah is her possession, or as if she is still a small child and has no rights to privacy as an adult. And can Diane Keaton over-act or what? This is really a story about how suffocating a mother's love can be even with the purest of intentions, especially for an only child. I found myself watching the clock to see when this nerve wracking mess of a movie would end.

Natalie Swerdlow (Diane Keaton) and her daughter Sara (Alexa Davalos) are exceedingly close. Sara is at her annual summer vacation place with gay best friend Adam (Tom Everett Scott), his boyfriend Shawn (Chris Pine), and their married friends; Maddy (Lauren German), Peter (Josh Hopkins), and their baby. Sara is killed while driving Adam. A heartbroken Natalie barges in on the friend group's summer house.

The death of one's child can get emotionally messy. That's why I can excuse the abundance of anger from Natalie and Adam. This is a mess of emotions. It is a messy movie. I choose not to wallow in the mess, but rather accept it for what it is.

A number of earlier reviewers have done a good job of "synop-sizing" this film's plot. But, notably, not many have devoted much time to performances (other than several who've dedicated much of their comments to the famous Diane Keaton and her characterization). At any rate, please let me jump in here.

Depth of performance is not this film's strong point. Keaton's work here is kind of "slide by"........just not her best. There's a noticeable tendency to act out in an over-the-top manner---though she's usually able to pull it back in before things get too messy.

Career-wise, Josh Hopkins and Scott, both the same age, share about the same number of filmed performances, with Scott holding an edge in movie productions, as opposed to TV works. These are definitely the male leads of this production, but it is Hopkins, as Peter, who becomes head and shoulders the standout. He is quite, quite good, and it has to be asked why he's not further up the scale of stardom at this point (lack of good agency representation, perhaps). And if there's a breath of fresh air in all this, it's Chris Pine's performance of a ebullient Shawn. He's a cutie, a sweetie, and he shines. Nothing keeps his character down.

Playing a gay character (Adam), Scott is perhaps surprisingly at nowhere near the performance level of those already mentioned. His past work experience would lead one to expect otherwise, but, sadly, that is not the case. When Peter calls Adam a "Little Bitch" at one point in the film, he comes very close to describing what is my take on Scott's performance: someone whose characterization is "diva-ish"---which I believe to be really over the top, as opposed to the way this part should be played. More, when he's not doing that, his delivery just seems flat (see Tom run, see Tom run after Spot). So, for anyone reading this who might have something to do with assisting Scott in selecting future roles, please have him refrain from those involving a gay character. I just don't see that he has it in him; his one gay interaction with another player, a kiss with Shawn, is a disaster (it shouldn't be like giving your grandmother a peck; can't you do better than to give us a lips-glued-shut kiss?). Why take on any role like this if you can't throw yourself into it?

This production, in my opinion, is not one worth the expense of adding to your DVD collection.

****

the best part is the silence. the worse - ambition to create a convincing story. a film who could be interesting for the taste after its end. but it is not real enough. it could be seductive for its cast. but the acting is far to be remarkable. or, the real good part could be the holes of story who are perfect places for the viewer's memories/emotions. a movie like a lot of many others. not good, not bad, not inspired or new. the theme is old, the manner to present it not original, the same idea than with a better script it could be real good work remains. a film who do not say nothing. a puzzle with too many pieces , many wrong, but useful, maybe, for a evening after a hard work day . short- good actors are not always the solution for repair a not inspired script or a not best ideas of director.