Sonoma State Star

Issue date: 2/14/07 Section: Entertainment

Courtesy // Canmag.com

Johnny, played by Gabriel Macht and Milly, played by Mandy Moore, in "Because I Said So." ( Courtesy // Rottentomatoes.com)

And you thought your mother was overbearing.

Before going to see 'Because I Said So' my female friends who had already seen the film described it to me as "really cute" and gave such positive remarks as, "I liked it!" Upon trying to coax my friend Caleb into going with me, he responded with, "That movie looks really lame."

I should have listened to him. But then again, I also should have listened to that inner voice that reminded me how I'm not the biggest fan of romantic comedies and therefore wouldn't get much enjoyment out of it anyway.

'Because I Said So' is about the four women of the Wilder family and the men, or lack of them, in their lives. Diane Keaton is Daphne, an overprotective, overbearing, borderline psychotic mother of three girls.

While her two oldest daughters have been happily married off, Milly, played by Mandy Moore, is still paddling around the dating pool in hopes of finding the right guy but continually falling for the wrong ones.

In an effort to help her daughter along, Daphne secretly places an online personal ad for her and begins interviewing potential "life partners" in order to find one suitable for poor Milly.

The problem with 'Because I Said So', like so many romantic comedies, is that it fails to present its audience with anything new.

The pretty girl with a fantastic wardrobe and a successful business searches for an attractive man to spend his life at her side, while her mother does her best to push fate in the right direction by setting her up with men that she deems appropriate to date her daughter?

I think I've seen that somewhere. Maybe they should have called this one 'Daughter Trap'.

While Moore plays a likeable character that the audience can sympathize with-because who hasn't wanted their mother to stop meddling at least once in their life-Keaton's character is completely over the top.

During a scene in which Milly tries to get her mother to leave before her date shows up, Daphne's advice, warnings and helpful suggestions as she is all but being pushed out the door by her nervous daughter made me just as anxious as I'm sure Milly was. By the end of the scene I wanted to yell, "Just leave her alone!"

Many of the arguments between Daphne and Milly consist of them trying to yell over each other, further increasing the anxiousness factor.

Halfway through the film I all but expected Daphne to turn into Joan Crawford and start beating her daughter, yelling, "No wire hangers!"

Having raised her three daughters by herself after her husband walked out, it seems that the audience is supposed to be impressed with her tenaciousness and indomitable spirit.

Her desire for control and indifference for anyone's opinion but her own made me wonder what made him stick around long enough to father three children.

Director Michael Lehmann, who also directed '40 Days and 40 Nights' in 2002 as well as 'Heathers' in 1989 should have stuck with his dark offbeat comedic fare rather than getting lost in the vanilla mush of romantic comedy.

Depending on the viewer, 'Because I Said So' either plays like an hour and a half long reminder as to why we haven't always gotten along with our mothers, or makes us give thanks that we are not the child of one like Daphne.

While Daphne's subconscious reasons for fervently trying to find a suitor for Milly are revealed later on in the film, it seems hard to believe that someone as attractive, level-headed and seemingly no older than 22 needs that much help finding an appropriate spouse.

Thank you, Diane Keaton, for I now feel like I should be spending my time searching for a husband. Perhaps my mother can help me?

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